Impact of psilocybin on cognitive function: A systematic review
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences October 1, 2024 Shakila Meshkat, Fatemeh Gholaminezhad, Eric Vermetten et al. 24 citations
A systematic review of 20 studies with 2,959 participants found that psilocybin's effects on cognitive function are mixed. Global cognitive function and processing speed remained mostly unchanged in healthy individuals, while improvements in sustained attention, working memory, and executive function were reported in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Emotional processing and empathy were positively modified, especially in these patients, but cognitive empathy and social cognition were not significantly altered. Cognitive flexibility and creative cognition initially declined but could improve over time. Psilocybin improved semantic associations and associative learning, but effects on episodic and verbal memory were less pronounced than with other cognitive enhancers.