Human Psychopharmacology of Hoasca, A Plant Hallucinogen Used in Ritual Context in Brazil
Charles S. Grob, Dennis J. Mckenna, James C. Callaway, Glacus S. Brito, Edison S. Neves, Guilherme Oberlaender, Oswaldo L. Saide, Elizeu Labigalini, Cristiane Tacla, Cláudio Torres de Miranda, Rick J. Strassman, Kyle B. Boone
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease February 1, 1996 DOI: 10.1097/00005053-199602000-00004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort with matched controls Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 30 |
| Population | Long-term members of a syncretic church that uses hoasca as a psychoactive sacrament and matched controls with no prior hoasca ingestion |
| Intervention | hoasca (ayahuasca) |
| Topics | Ayahuasca Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Hallucinogen Psychopathology Context archaeology Personality Clinical psychology Psychotherapist Anthropology |
| Citations | 333 |
| Key findings | Remission of psychopathology followed the initiation of hoasca use, with no evidence of personality or cognitive deterioration and high functional status among long-term users. |
Abstract
A multinational, collaborative, biomedical investigation of the effects of hoasca (ayahuasca), a potent concoction of plant hallucinogens, was conducted in the Brazilian Amazon during the summer of 1993. This report describes the psychological assessment of 15 long-term members of a syncretic church that utilizes hoasca as a legal, psychoactive sacrament as well as 15 matched controls with no prior history of hoasca ingestion. Measures administered to both groups included structured psychiatric diagnostic interviews, personality testing, and neuropsychological evaluation. Phenomenological assessment of the altered state experience as well as semistructured and open-ended life story interviews were conducted with the long-term use hoasca group, but not the hoasca-naive control group. Salient findings included the remission of psychopathology following the initiation of hoasca use along with no evidence of personality or cognitive deterioration. Overall assessment revealed high functional status. Implications of this unusual phenomenon and need for further investigation are discussed.