Intact neurophysiological markers of death denial in long-term ayahuasca users
Yair Dor-Ziderman, Jonathan David, Aviva Berkovich-Ohana
Psychopharmacology November 10, 2025 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-025-06963-z (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Preliminary study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Ayahuasca |
| Topics | Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Unconscious mind Cognition Denial Hallucinogen Perception Neurophysiology Psychotherapist Clinical psychology |
| Key points | Ayahuasca alters conceptual and affective processing of death but does not affect automatic perceptual unconscious death-denial processes. |
Abstract
These findings provide preliminary evidence that while ayahuasca may alter how humans interact with the theme of death on conceptual and affective levels of cognitive processing, on automatic, perceptual unconscious levels of self-specific processing, death-denial processes appear to remain intact.
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