However, although there is significant research that outlines the benefits of psychedelics for mental health, there remains, thus far, a gap in the scientific literature when it comes to the effects of psychedelics on creativity and cognition. Until now, that is.

In this article we will look at two recent studies that explore the effects of psychedelics on creativity and cognition. Both studies were published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, with groundbreaking results. Each focuses on how psychedelics are responsible for altering our creative and cognitive patterns, and thus, how these changes could offer novel ways to improve our mental health and quality of life in general. 

Do Psychedelics Boost Creativity?

The first study is a PHD paper by Natasha Mason, a researcher and assistant professor at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Her research focuses on psychedelic drugs, neuropharmacology, cannabis and neuroadaptations. In the paper titled ‘Spontaneous and deliberate creative cognition during and after psilocybin exposure’, Mason presents the question — do psychedelics boost creativity? The study, carried out over a year, used a balanced, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled group study, enlisting 60 healthy participants. All had experience with psychedelic drugs, but had not taken any within the past 3 months. They were split into two groups. One that received 0.17mg/kg of psilocybin, or a placebo. 

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Divergent and Convergent Thinking

The study took place over 3 visits in which participants completed creativity tasks. These tested for divergent and convergent thinking. Divergent thinking is the ability to generate original and novel ideas. Convergent thinking is the ability to evaluate the practicality and effectiveness of already existing ideas. 

One of the tasks that the participants were required to complete was a picture concept task. This was performed during the peak of the psilocybins effect, around 2 hours after administration, as an assessment of both divergent and convergent thinking. In the paper, Mason outlined the task;

“…the [picture concept task] consists of 17 stimuli, each containing between 4 and 12 color pictures shown in a matrix. Participants were given 30s per stimulus to find an association between one of the pictures in each row. Specifically, they were asked first to provide the correct solution, as there is only one correct answer.” 

Levels of convergent thinking were assessed by the amount of correct answers the participants gave. Levels of divergent thinking were assessed by requesting the participants provide as many alternative answers as they could think of. These were then calculated against various parameters; such as originality, fluency, and the correlation of both. The participants were also asked to list as many uses as possible for two common household objects in 3 minutes. (How many different applications could you come up with for a broom, for example…? We would love to have heard some of the answers!) 😂 Sounds like a fun game to play next time you’re tripping….

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The researchers gathered data points including ‘baseline’ (no drug administered), ‘acute’ (during the psychedelic trip) and ‘lasting’ (7 days after administration). 

Overtime Psychedelics Can Enhance Creativity

The researchers found that psychedelics facilitate changes in constructs of creative thinking over time. The study proposes that there are two types of creative thinking. Deliberate and spontaneous. Deliberate creativity is when you use logical thought to complete a task or achieve a goal you are focussed on. Spontaneous creativity happens when you are relaxed and at ease, meaning your mind is free to think and wander, without limitation. 

After taking psychedelics, the participants reported feeling more insightful, but in practice they actually gave fewer ideas. This implied that the psychedelic might have increased spontaneous creative thoughts, but conversely, reduced deliberate creative thought. Excitingly, the study also found that a week after taking the psilocybin, the participants generated more novel ideas. This indicates that their creativity had improved. This led the researchers to propose that a balance between the two types of creative thinking (deliberate and spontaneous) is necessary for productive creativity, and that psychedelics may temporarily disturb this balance. However, over time, the balance between the two may be restored, and even improved, enhancing creativity overall. 

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How Do Psychedelics Affect Cognition?

The second study was led by Manoj K. Doss. a cognitive neuropsychopharmacologist at John Hopkins. It was titled ‘Psilocybin therapy increases cognitive and neural flexibility in patients with major depressive disorder’ and focused on the effects of psychedelics on cognition. The study explored these findings, and the subsequent effects they may have on the treatment of mood disorders, such as depression, by increasing the patient’s’ ability to think flexibly. 

The researchers studied 24 patients with major depressive disorder. They tested how psilocybin affects their thinking, brain connections, and some specific brain chemicals.

The team, led by Doss, found that psychedelics, such as psilocybin and MDMA can lessen the encoding of memories that rely on pulling up specific details, while enhancing the encoding of memories that rely on familiarity. This differs from other drugs tested in this field, such as ketamine, which appear to lessen both forms of memory encoding. Fascinatingly, this study suggests that psychedelics may allow the brain to bypass or decrease the need for the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that aids in mediating how the brain’s cortex learns; with more permanent memories being caused by steady representation across episodic memories. 

Psychedelics Enhance Flexible Thought

What this rather complex finding means, is that psychedelics could help to ‘overwrite’ dysfunctional and maladaptive memories that have become encoded in the cortex, such as trauma. This suggests that you can build new contexts and ways of being, that could lead to new encoding, even some time after a psychedelic trip. 

The researchers found that psilocybin helped patients to think with more flexibility for at least four weeks after the treatment. 

These exciting fledgling studies bring to light the complicated relationship between psychedelics and cognition, finding that psychedelics affect creativity and cognition in many different and nuanced ways. These results will contribute to our growing understanding of the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics, setting the stage for a new understanding of the role that changes in cognition can have on both a persons’ creativity and their mental health.  

The Takeaway: 

  • A new generation of studies are exploring the long-stated connection between psychedelics and creativity. 
  • One study found that psychedelics, such as psilocybin, change the constructs of creative thinking over time. 
  • A week after taking psilocybin participants generated more novel and original ideas. (A mark of increased creativity.)
  • Researchers believe that a balance between deliberate and spontaneous creative thinking are necessary to be productive. Although psychedelics temporarily unbalance this, over time they actually enhance it, improving creativity overall. 
  • The second study found that psychedelics increase flexible cognition and thought, which is key for treating mood disorders such as depression. Flexible thought is an aspect of creativity. 
  • Psychedelics affect cognition and creativity in many nuanced, and in some cases mysterious, ways. However, the research is positive and sets the stage for a future of enhanced creativity and effective mental health treatment.