Speech markers of psychedelic-induced psychological change
bioRxiv April 21, 2025 Joanna Kuć, Rosalind G. McAlpine, Amelia Sellers et al. preprint
After a single 12 mg dose of the psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT, people's speech patterns shifted toward more cognitive language and fewer social words, and their voices showed increased jitter and shimmer, indicating altered vocal quality. Baseline speech features predicted how psychologically prepared participants were, their anxiety about ego dissolution, emotional breakthrough, and later well-being. The findings suggest that analyzing voice journals can track a shift from external focus to introspection and serve as a tool for monitoring psychological transformation after psychedelic use.