Psychoactive Substances and Paranormal Phenomena: A Comprehensive Review
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 2012 DOI: 10.24972/ijts.2012.31.1.97 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Paranormal Parapsychology Extrasensory perception Sleep paralysis Transpersonal psychology Telepathy Pseudoscience Psychoanalysis Epistemology |
| Citations | 35 |
| Key findings | The review organizes evidence linking psychoactive substances to paranormal experiences across neurochemical models, field reports, surveys, and experimental research, while providing a methodological critique. |
Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between psychoactive substances and so-called paranormal phenomena falling within the study of parapsychology. It is primarily concerned with extrasensory perception (ESP)—telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance—as well as out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs). Psychokinesis (PK), aura vision, encounter experiences, and sleep paralysis only make a very limited contribution to this review as they are seldom related to psychoactive drugs within the parapsychological literature. The paper borrows widely, but by no means exhaustively, from parapsychology as well as transpersonal studies, anthropology, ethnobotany, phytochemistry, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and neurobiology, particularly neurochemistry. It is organized into neurochemical models of paranormal experience (section 1), field reports of intentional and spontaneous phenomena incorporating anthropological, historical and clinical cases, and personal accounts (section 2), surveys of paranormal belief and experience (section 3), experimental research (section 4), and a methodological critique of the experimental research with recommendations for further work (section 5).
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on psilocybin, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. General population | 2019 | Integrative review | |
| The pharmacology of psilocybin | 2002 | Review | |
| Serotonin research: contributions to understanding psychoses | 2008 | Review | |
| Psychedelics, Meditation, and Self-Consciousness | 2018 | Review | |
| The abuse potential of medical psilocybin according to the 8 factors of the Controlled Substances Act | 2018 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 16
- Survey of entity encounter experiences occasioned by inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, interpretation, and enduring effects. Journal of Psychopharmacology September 1, 2020
- Neurochemical models of near-death experiences: A large-scale study based on the semantic similarity of written reports. Consciousness and Cognition March 1, 2019
- The induction of synaesthesia with chemical agents: a systematic review Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- Comparison of psychedelic and near-death or other non-ordinary experiences in changing attitudes about death and dying PLoS One August 24, 2022
- An Encounter With the Other: A Thematic and Content Analysis of DMT Experiences From a Naturalistic Field Study Frontiers in Psychology December 16, 2021
and 11 more in the library
Cites 64
- Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance Psychopharmacology July 7, 2006
- Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 23, 2012
- A Revised Paranormal Belief Scale International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 2004
- Taming the Ketamine Tiger Anesthesiology August 6, 2010
- Dose-Response Study of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine in Humans Archives of General Psychiatry February 1, 1994
and 59 more in the library