Metacognitive Feelings of Epistemic Gain are Central to the Understanding of Psychedelic-Induced Mystical-Type Experiences
Cognitive Therapy and Research March 29, 2025 Federico Seragnoli, Fabienne Picard, Gabriel Thorens et al. 4 citations
The noetic (insightful) quality of mystical-type experiences in psychedelic-assisted therapy may arise from changes in metacognition—the ability to monitor and evaluate one's own thoughts. Drawing on existing metacognition models, the authors propose that psychedelics activate procedural, performance-based metacognitive feelings, producing an 'Aha!' experience interpreted as a feeling of epistemic gain. This framework could help explain therapeutic mechanisms such as intention setting, music's role, traumatic memory recall, and spiritual bypassing. The paper reviews theoretical links between metacognition and altered states like meditation and lucid dreaming, then outlines future research directions.