From relaxed beliefs under psychedelics (REBUS) to revised beliefs after psychedelics (REBAS).

A preliminary test of the REBUS model found that a high dose of psilocybin (25 mg) reduced confidence in negative self-beliefs in 11 healthy individuals, both during the acute experience and four weeks later. Greater brain signal entropy and stronger subjective effects under psilocybin correlated with larger decreases in negative self-belief confidence. Decreases in negative self-belief confidence were linked to increases in well-being. The findings provide initial evidence that relaxing and revising negative self-beliefs may underlie psilocybin's positive psychological effects, with increased neuronal entropy as a possible mechanism. Replication in larger clinical samples is needed.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The Relaxed Beliefs Under pSychedelics (REBUS) model proposes that serotonergic psychedelics decrease the precision weighting of neurobiologically-encoded beliefs. We conducted a preliminary examination of two psychological assumptions of REBUS: (a) psychedelics foster acute relaxation and post-acute revision of confidence in mental-health-relevant beliefs; which (b) facilitate positive therapeutic outcomes and are associated with the entropy of EEG signals. Healthy individuals (N = 11) were administered 1 mg and 25 mg psilocybin 4-weeks apart. Confidence ratings for personally held beliefs were obtained before, during, and 4-weeks post-psilocybin. Acute entropy and subjective experiences were measured, as was well-being (before and 4-weeks post-psilocybin). Confidence in negative self-beliefs decreased following 25 mg psilocybin. Entropy and subjective effects under 25 mg psilocybin correlated with decreases in negative self-belief confidence (acutely and at 4-weeks). Particularly strong evidence was seen for a relationship between decreases in negative self-belief confidence and increases in well-being. We report the first empirical evidence that the relaxation and revision of negative self-belief confidence mediates psilocybin's positive psychological outcomes, and provide tentative evidence for a neuronal mechanism, namely, increased neuronal entropy. Replication within larger and clinical samples is necessary. We also introduce a new measure for examining the robustness of these preliminary findings and the utility of the REBUS model.