The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
June 14, 2017
Thomas Pokorny, Katrin H. Preller, Michael Kometer et al.
202 citations
A single dose of psilocybin (0.215 mg/kg) increased emotional empathy in healthy adults but did not affect cognitive empathy or moral decision-making. The rise in implicit emotional empathy correlated with psilocybin-induced changes in the meaning of percepts. These results suggest psilocybin selectively enhances emotional empathy, likely through serotonin 2A/1A receptor activation, which may inform treatments for impaired social cognition.
PLoS One
June 27, 2014
Kim P. C. Kuypers, Rafael de la Torre, Magı́ Farré et al.
88 citations
A single 75 mg dose of MDMA selectively enhances emotional empathy—the ability to share and understand others' feelings—without affecting cognitive empathy (understanding others' mental states), trust, or reciprocity in social interactions. This effect was not altered by adding pindolol, a drug that blocks the 5-HT1A serotonin receptor. Oxytocin nasal spray, a hormone often linked to social bonding, had no effect on any empathy or social interaction measure. Changes in emotional empathy were unrelated to oxytocin levels in the blood. The findings suggest that MDMA's empathy-enhancing effects do not depend on peripheral oxytocin and may instead involve other receptors such as serotonin 2A or vasopressin 1A.
Open MIND
May 28, 2026
Josephine Jörke, Lena Erdmann, Michael A. Rapp et al.
High ventilation breathwork (HVB) can reliably induce altered states of consciousness similar to those produced by psychedelics and has shown positive effects on mental health, yet its safety profile remains poorly characterized. This project will conduct a longitudinal online survey in which participants report on a recent HVB session (within nine days), including side effects, subjective experiences, contextual factors, and demographic and risk-related variables. Side effects are classified as acute (during or directly after the breathing phase), subacute (within 48 hours), and delayed (48 hours to three weeks). Prevalence rates will be estimated as percentages, and hierarchical multiple regression will predict side effect severity. The goal is to inform evidence-based guidelines for responsible HVB use.
Psychological review
November 1, 2025
Max Wolff, Hans Rutrecht, Lea J. Mertens et al.
Psychedelic therapy is often viewed as a distinct form of psychotherapy, but this article argues that its effectiveness can be understood through the same general change mechanisms that operate in all effective psychotherapies. Drawing on Klaus Grawe's empirically grounded model of common factors, the authors propose that psychedelic therapy works via five mechanisms: resource activation, therapeutic relationship, problem actuation, clarification, and mastery. The article integrates evidence from psychedelic research to support this transtheoretical framework and discusses its implications for clinical practice, training, and future studies.
Neuroimage
July 1, 2022
Simon Guendelman, Mareike Bayer, Kristin Prehn et al.
A randomized controlled trial compared mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) to a reading/listening intervention in 68 adults. MBSR reduced self-reported stress through both cognitive reappraisal and acceptance, but only when regulating one's own emotions, not when regulating others' distress. MBSR increased brain activation in the parietal cortex for self-regulation and in the precuneus and temporoparietal junction for other-regulation via both strategies, though the reading intervention also increased activation for self-regulation via reappraisal. Brain changes did not correlate with subjective stress reduction or meditation practice. No effects on cognitive empathy or compassion were found, indicating that MBSR's benefits do not generalize to social settings.