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LSD Acutely Impairs Fear Recognition and Enhances Emotional Empathy and Sociality

Patrick C. Dolder, Yasmin Schmid, Felix Müller, Stefan Borgwardt, Matthias E. Liechti

Neuropsychopharmacology June 1, 2016 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2016.82 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Randomized controlled trial Placebo-controlled Double-blind Peer reviewed
Sample size 40
Population Healthy, mostly hallucinogen-naive 25- to 65-year-old volunteers (20 men, 20 women)
Intervention Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
Dose 100 μg and 200 μg
Topics Anxiety LSD
Keywords Empathy Prosocial behavior Hallucinogen Feeling Clinical psychology Developmental psychology
Citations 249
Key findings LSD enhances emotional empathy and prosocial behavior while impairing recognition of sad and fearful faces, suggesting potential utility in LSD-assisted psychotherapy.

Abstract

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is used recreationally and has been evaluated as an adjunct to psychotherapy to treat anxiety in patients with life-threatening illness. LSD is well-known to induce perceptual alterations, but unknown is whether LSD alters emotional processing in ways that can support psychotherapy. We investigated the acute effects of LSD on emotional processing using the Face Emotion Recognition Task (FERT) and Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET). The effects of LSD on social behavior were tested using the Social Value Orientation (SVO) test. Two similar placebo-controlled, double-blind, random-order, crossover studies were conducted using 100 μg LSD in 24 subjects and 200 μg LSD in 16 subjects. All of the subjects were healthy and mostly hallucinogen-naive 25- to 65-year-old volunteers (20 men, 20 women). LSD produced feelings of happiness, trust, closeness to others, enhanced explicit and implicit emotional empathy on the MET, and impaired the recognition of sad and fearful faces on the FERT. LSD enhanced the participants' desire to be with other people and increased their prosocial behavior on the SVO test. These effects of LSD on emotion processing and sociality may be useful for LSD-assisted psychotherapy.

In the evidence

This study is part of the evidence base for a synthesis in the library. Here is how each one recorded it.

  • State of the evidence: LSD for anxiety Supports

    LSD enhanced emotional empathy and prosocial behavior while impairing recognition of sad and fearful faces, effects the authors suggest may support LSD-assisted psychotherapy.

    Synthesized

Comparable studies

Other randomized controlled trials on LSD for anxiety, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Safety and Efficacy of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-Assisted Psychotherapy for Anxiety Associated With Life-threatening Diseases Patients with anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases 2014 Randomized controlled trial n = 12
Subjective effects and tolerability of the South American psychoactive beverage Ayahuasca in healthy volunteers Healthy male volunteers with prior experience using ayahuasca 2001 Single-blind crossover placebo-controlled clinical trial n = 6
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-Assisted Therapy in Patients With Anxiety With and Without a Life-Threatening Illness: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase II Study. Patients who experienced anxiety with or without association with a life-threatening... 2023 Randomized controlled trial n = 42
Mood and cognition after administration of low LSD doses in healthy volunteers: A placebo controlled dose-effect finding study Healthy participants 2020 Placebo-controlled within-subject study n = 24
A low dose of lysergic acid diethylamide decreases pain perception in healthy volunteers Healthy volunteers 2020 Randomized controlled trial n = 24

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