Psychedelics and time: Exploring altered temporal perception and its implications for consciousness, neuroscience, and therapy

Psychedelics such as psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine, and lysergic acid diethylamide disrupt normal time perception, causing time dilation, compression, or loss of time. This opinion article integrates emerging cognitive neuroscience findings to discuss neural mechanisms behind these temporal anomalies. The authors suggest that psychedelic-induced time warps offer a new approach to studying brain correlates of the perception of the passage of time and conscious time perception. These changes may have therapeutic value for psychiatric disorders where altered time perception is central, including posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Examining these time changes also highlights psychedelics' potential in shaping transformative cognitive-affective states and their clinical relevance.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Psychedelics including psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine, and lysergic acid diethylamide are known to disrupt the normal flow of time perception, for example, producing time dilation, compression, and loss of time. These temporal anomalies provide interesting clues about how the brain processes time, what consciousness is, and what produces the sense of self. This opinion article discusses the neural mechanisms of time perception altered by psychedelics by integrating emerging research findings in cognitive neuroscience and subjective effects. We suggest that the psychedelic-induced time warp can offer a new approach to studying brain correlates of the perception of the passage of time and conscious perception of time, and may have potential therapeutic value in psychiatric disorders in which altered perception of time is core, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Through examining these time changes, we discuss the potential of psychedelics in shaping transformative cognitive-affective states and their relevance for clinical applications.