Microdosing psychedelics may enhance cognitive performance by improving the balance between cognitive persistence and flexibility, according to preliminary quantitative findings. The authors speculate that psychedelics affect cognitive metacontrol policies, optimizing this balance. However, they emphasize that future research with rigorous placebo-controlled designs is needed to confirm these initial results. The study provides support for cognitive-enhancing properties but remains preliminary.
The brain's metacontrol states of persistence and flexibility are linked to distinct neural networks. Persistence-related conditions activated areas modulated by frontal and striatal dopamine—prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and basal ganglia—indicating goal-directed attention and top-down control. Flexibility-related conditions activated default mode network regions, suggesting reduced top-down control. This pattern was clearer for creativity tasks than for meditation. No significant effects emerged when contrasting focused-attention and open-monitoring meditation, nor when examining brain activation overlap between meditation and creativity at the whole-brain level. The metacontrol model of creativity received partial support, but its prediction for the left inferior frontal gyrus showed the opposite result, requiring clarification.