Ayahuasca in adolescence: a neuropsychological assessment.
Journal of psychoactive drugs – June 01, 2005
Source: PubMed
Summary
Intriguingly, adolescents participating in religious ayahuasca ceremonies demonstrate comparable cognitive abilities to their non-using peers. A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment, evaluating attention, memory, and mental flexibility, found no significant differences between young participants and a matched control group. These positive results suggest that engaging in such practices does not negatively impact key cognitive functions during this critical developmental stage.
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to evaluate neuropsychologically adolescents who use ayahuasca in a religious context. A battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to adolescents who use ayahuasca. These subjects were compared to a matched control group of adolescents who did not use ayahuasca. The controls were matched with regards to sex, age, and education. The neuropsychological battery included tests of speeded attention, visual search, sequencing, psychomotor speed, verbal and visual abilities, memory, and mental flexibility. The statistical results for subjects from matched controls on neuropsychological measures were computed using independent t-tests. Overall, statistical findings suggested that there was no significant difference between the two groups on neuropsychological measures. Even though, the data overall supports that there was not a difference between ayahuasca users and matched controls on neuropsychological measures, further studies are necessary to support these findings.