Psychedelics can re-orient beliefs, but they may also produce false insights that lead to false beliefs. A model based on the active inference framework connects laboratory findings on false insights and false memories to psychedelic experiences. Subjective and brain-based changes from psychedelics increase the quantity and intensity of insights and beliefs, including false ones. The neurobiological action of psychedelics may heighten the experience of insight, enabling flexible belief updating but also the adoption of false beliefs. Future research should aim to minimize the risk of false and potentially harmful beliefs to safely leverage psychedelics' therapeutic potential.
The effectiveness of psychedelic psychotherapy may depend on specific changes in how people experience their own thoughts and perceptions, not just on the brain's neural disorganization. One prominent theory attributes therapeutic benefits to increased 'phenomenal opacity'—the sense that mental contents are constructed rather than direct reflections of reality. However, this paper argues that such accounts overlook the role of 'radically transparent' experiences, where perceptions feel vividly real and immediate. The authors describe common shifts toward phenomenal transparency during psychedelic sessions and contend that these experiences can also drive psychotherapeutic transformation. This alternative view suggests new directions for empirical research on attention and phenomenology in psychedelic treatment.