April 23, 2026
Eli Stark-Elster, Mamosebetsi Sethathi, Breyten Van der Merwe et al.
Reliable documentation of the traditional use of serotonergic psychedelics has long been confined to the Americas. Prevailing narratives often overstate the global prevalence and uniformity of traditional psychedelic use, extrapolating from a limited set of well-documented cases. Here, we report evidence of psilocybin mushroom use among Basotho traditional healers and non-healers in Lesotho and...
PLoS One
2024
Marianna Graziosi, Julia Sarah Rohde, Stephanie Lake et al.
6 citations
This study aimed to develop and validate a short-form version of the AWE-S (AWE-SF) within psychedelic samples, to reduce participant burden while maintaining psychometric integrity. Across five studies, we first replicated the original six-factor structure of the AWE-S through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (Study 1), leading to the creation of the 12-item AWE-SF (Study 2-3). We...
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
September 1, 2022
Michiel van Elk, David Bryce Yaden
214 citations
This paper provides a critical review of several possible mechanisms at different levels of analysis underlying the effects and therapeutic potential of psychedelics. At the (1) biochemical level, psychedelics primarily affect the 5-HT2A receptor, increase neuroplasticity, offer a critical period for social reward learning, and have anti-inflammatory properties. At the (2) neural level,...
Review of General Psychology
May 1, 2017
David Bryce Yaden, Jonathan Haidt, Ralph W. Hood et al.
682 citations
Various forms of self-loss have been described as aspects of mental illness (e.g., depersonalization disorder), but might self-loss also be related to mental health? In this integrative review and proposed organizational framework, we focus on self-transcendent experiences (STEs)—transient mental states marked by decreased self-salience and increased feelings of connectedness. We first identify...