Mystical Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin Lead to Increases in the Personality Domain of Openness

By Katherine A. MacLean, Matthew W. Johnson, Roland R. Griffiths. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2011

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A large body of evidence, including longitudinal analyses of personality change, suggests that core personality traits are predominantly stable after age 30. To our knowledge, no study has demonstrated changes in personality in healthy adults after an experimentally manipulated discrete event. Intriguingly, double-blind controlled studies have shown that the classic hallucinogen psilocybin occasions personally and spiritually significant mystical experiences that predict long-term changes in behaviors, attitudes and values. In the present report we assessed the effect of psilocybin on changes in the five broad domains of personality – Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Consistent with participant claims of hallucinogen-occasioned increases in aesthetic appreciation, imagination, and creativity, we found significant increases in Openness following a high-dose psilocybin session. In participants who had mystical experiences during their psilocybin session, Openness remained significantly higher than baseline more than 1 year after the session. The findings suggest a specific role for psilocybin and mystical-type experiences in adult personality change.

Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology, Organic Chemistry

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/303b7588c9f4d31c75b59dd881167809bf45d73d

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Citations in the corpus

Serotonin and brain function: a tale of two receptors (2017, background): “…(such as LSD and psilocybin) enhance cognitive flexibility and creative thinking (Frecska et al., 2012; Harman et al., 1966; Janiger and Dobkin de Rios, 1989; King et al., 1974; MacLean et al., 2011; McGlothlin et al., 1967; Sessa, 2008), potentially in an enduring way (MacLean et al., 2011).”
The Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Drugs: Past, Present, and Future (2017, background): “…Vollenweider et al, 1997), psychology (Carhart-Harris et al, 2015, 2016c; Carter et al, 2007; Gouzoulis-Mayfrank et al, 2005; Griffiths et al, 2006; MacLean et al, 2011; Schmid et al, 2015), and psychopharmacology studies with psychedelics (Kometer et al, 2012; Preller et al, 2017; Valle et al,…”
Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: A proof-of-concept study (2015, positive): “…ultimate reality, transcendence of time and space, deeply felt positive mood, and ineffability (Pahnke, 1963)) significantly predicts the lasting personal significance of the experience (Griffiths et al., 2008) and personality change (Maclean et al., 2011) in normal volunteers receiving psilocybin.”
Quality of Acute Psychedelic Experience Predicts Therapeutic Efficacy of Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression (2018, methodology): “This threshold is similar to MEQ > 0.6 which was used in other studies to identify “peakers” and “complete mystical-type experience” (Pahnke et al., 1970; Richards et al., 1977; Maclean et al., 2011; Garcia-Romeu et al., 2014; Johnson et al., 2016).”
Openness to Experience (2014, background): “MacLean, Johnson, and Griffiths (2011) showed that mystical experiences induced by an experimentally administered dose of the “magic mushroom” drug, psilocybin, led to increases (about one-half standard deviation) in Openness and its Fantasy, Aesthetics, Feelings, and Ideas facets that were…”
REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics (2019, background): “(2018b)], as well as changes in personality in the direction of increased openness (MacLean et al., 2011; Erritzoe et al., 2018).”
Of Roots and Fruits: A Comparison of Psychedelic and Nonpsychedelic Mystical Experiences (2017, background): “The broad class of psychoactive substances known as “psychedelics,” “hallucinogens,” or “entheogens” (MacLean et al., 2011) encompasses many compounds, including the more well-known substances of psilocybin (mushrooms), lysergic acid diethylamide(LSD), mescaline (peyote), and N,N-Dimethyltryptamine…”
Safety and Efficacy of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-Assisted Psychotherapy for Anxiety Associated With Life-threatening Diseases (2014, background): “Therefore, this trait change may be supported by neurobiological effects of adjunctive use of LSD, which was originally introduced for deepening and accelerating psychotherapeutic processing (Abramson, 1967) and, in some studies, was shown to alter personality traits (MacLean et al., 2011; McGlothli”
Developing Guidelines and Competencies for the Training of Psychedelic Therapists (2017, methodology): “As with Rogers’s (1961) model, current researchers see the quality of trustworthiness as key to creating safety in the treatment sessions (Johnson et al., 2008; MacLean et al., 2011); building the therapeutic relationship (Greer & Tolbert, 1998; Grob, 2002; Jerome et al.”
The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs (2014, background): “In consideration of these things, narrow-mindedness is to pessimism what openness (MacLean et al., 2011) is to optimism and strategies that promote the latter may be effective treatments for depression (see MacLean et al., 2011).”
Patients’ Accounts of Increased “Connectedness” and “Acceptance” After Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression (2017, positive): “This is consistent with previous findings of sustained increases in trait Openness in healthy volunteers after high dose psilocybin sessions (MacLean, Johnson, & Griffiths, 2011).”
Psychedelics (2016, methodology): “MacLean et al. (2011) analyzed the data from the two double-blind controlled studies of psilocybin reported by Griffiths et al. (2006, 2011).”