Adolescents who use ayahuasca in a religious context show no significant differences in neuropsychological performance compared to matched controls. A battery of tests measuring speeded attention, visual search, sequencing, psychomotor speed, verbal and visual abilities, memory, and mental flexibility found no impairment among ayahuasca users. The groups were matched for sex, age, and education. Statistical comparisons using independent t-tests indicated no significant differences on any measure. The authors suggest further studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Adolescents who consume ayahuasca in a religious ritual setting perform well on neuropsychological tests, but not as well as non-using peers on complex tasks that require more cognitive functions. The study compared 40 ayahuasca-using adolescents with 40 matched controls. Both groups performed well overall, but controls outperformed users on the more demanding tests. The authors suggest ayahuasca may have subtle effects on cognition observable only during highly demanding tasks, while noting that other variables could have influenced the results.