LSD and Creativity
Oscar Janiger, Marlene Dobkin De Rios
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 1989 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.1989.10472150 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Artists |
| Intervention | Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) |
| Duration | One hour after ingestion |
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Creativity Depiction Aesthetics Style visual arts |
| Citations | 29 |
| Key findings | LSD ingestion shifted artists' styles from representational or abstract toward more expressionistic or nonobjective approaches, with changes in size, color, and composition. |
Abstract
The effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on creativity were examined in a unique experiment in the late 1950's. In this project, artists were asked to draw and paint a Kachina doll both prior to and one hour after the ingestion of LSD. Evaluations of these artistic productions were analyzed by a professor of art history in order to investigate the impact of LSD on artistic creativity. Certain representative changes were found in the artists' predominant style. The most significant change was noted in those artists whose styles were intrinsically representational or abstract to more expressionistic or nonobjective. Other changes noted included the following: relative size expansion; involution; movement; alteration of figure/ground and boundaries; greater intensity of color and light; oversimplification; symbolic and abstract depiction of objects; and fragmentation, disorganization, and distortion. Many artists judged their LSD productions to be more interesting and aesthetically superior to their usual mode of expression. The above-mentioned changes contributed to the artists' convictions that they were fashioning new meanings to an emergent world.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on LSD, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging. Human participants | 2016 | Experimental study | |
| Crystal structure of an LSD-bound human serotonin receptor | 2017 | Experimental study with structural biology and molecular dynamics simulations | |
| Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: Sensitive Neuronal Units in the Midbrain Raphe Midbrain neurons containing serotonin | 1968 | Experimental study | |
| Connectome-harmonic decomposition of human brain activity reveals dynamical repertoire re-organization under LSD. Human brain | 2017 | Experimental study | |
| LSD-Assisted Psychotherapy in Patients with Terminal Cancer Cancer patients | 1973 | Experimental study | n = 60 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 15
- Therapeutic effects of classic serotonergic psychedelics: A systematic review of modern‐era clinical studies Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica October 30, 2020
- Effects of psilocybin therapy on personality structure Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica June 19, 2018
- Recreational use of psychedelics is associated with elevated personality trait openness: Exploration of associations with brain serotonin markers. Journal of Psychopharmacology February 28, 2019
- Breakdown or Breakthrough? A History of European Research into Drugs and Creativity The Journal of Creative Behavior December 1, 1999
- The Bright Side of Psychedelics: Latest Advances and Challenges in Neuropharmacology International Journal of Molecular Sciences January 10, 2023
and 10 more in the library