PW01-222 - Adolescents Using Hallucinogens Within A Religious Context: A Neuropsychological Assessment
Evelyn Doering-Silveira, Enrique Lopez, Charles S. Grob, Marlene Dobkin De Rios, Itiro Shirakawa, Paulo Henrique Ferreira Bertolucci, Dartiu Xavier Da Silveira
European Psychiatry 2010 DOI: 10.1016/s0924-9338(10)71629-1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 80 |
| Population | Adolescents who consume ayahuasca within a religious ritual setting and matched controls who never used ayahuasca |
| Topics | Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Neuropsychology Context archaeology Cognition Hallucinogen Clinical psychology Neuropsychological assessment Developmental psychology |
| Key findings | Adolescents who consume ayahuasca performed well on all neuropsychological tests but did not perform as well as the control group on more complex tests requiring extra cognitive strength. |
Abstract
Introduction: The use of psychoactive substances has been frequently associated with cognitive impairment. More and more people, including adolescents, use the plant hallucinogen beverage “ayahuasca” throughout the world. Long-term ayahuasca use by adolescents might eventually result in impaired cognitive performance.
Objective: The objective of this study is to assess neuropsychological performance of adolescents who consume ayahuasca within a religious ritual setting.
Method: Forty ayahuasca consuming adolescents and forty adolescents who never used ayahuasca were compared on their performance on a battery of neuropsychological tests. Groups were matched by sex, age, and educational level.
Results: Both groups performed well on all neuropsychological tests. However, there were differences between the groups. Controls outperformed subjects on more complex tests, that is, those requiring more cognitive functions to perform a specific task.
Conclusions: Adolescents who consume ayahuasca performed well on all the neuropsychological tests. However they did not perform as well as the control group whenever extra cognitive strength was required. It is possible that ayahuasca may have some subtle effect on cognition that can only be observed before highly demanding tasks. However, other variables may have interfered with these findings.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on ayahuasca, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antidepressant effects of a single dose of ayahuasca in patients with recurrent depression: a preliminary report Patients with a depressive disorder | 2015 | Observational study | |
| The Psychedelic State Induced by Ayahuasca Modulates the Activity and Connectivity of the Default Mode Network Experienced subjects | 2015 | Observational cohort | n = 10 |
| Human Psychopharmacology of Hoasca, A Plant Hallucinogen Used in Ritual Context in Brazil Long-term members of a syncretic church that uses hoasca as a psychoactive sacrament... | 1996 | Observational cohort with matched controls | n = 30 |
| Ayahuasca-Assisted Therapy for Addiction: Results from a Preliminary Observational Study in Canada Rural aboriginal population | 2013 | Observational study | |
| Personality, Psychopathology, Life Attitudes and Neuropsychological Performance among Ritual Users of Ayahuasca: A Longitudinal Study Regular ayahuasca users and active controls in non-ayahuasca religions | 2012 | Observational cohort | n = 242 |