Psychedelics and autobiographical memory – Six open questions

Psychedelics have long been thought to enhance autobiographical memory, and revisiting such memories may be key to their therapeutic effects, yet modern research has largely overlooked this area. This review identifies six open questions: whether psychedelics boost autobiographical recall; whether recalling significant or traumatic memories is common during psychedelic experiences; whether they can produce false memories; how memories change when recalled and reconsolidated under psychedelics; what memories of the psychedelic experience itself are like; and whether autobiographical experiences under psychedelics are especially important for therapeutic outcomes. The authors present the limited current evidence for each question and propose how future studies could address them, emphasizing relevance for optimizing psychedelic-assisted therapies and avoiding harm.

Study at a glance

Abstract

RationaleSince the earliest LSD research, psychedelics have been claimed to enhance autobiographical memory. Revisiting and processing autobiographical memories has further been suggested to be a major component of the therapeutic action of psychedelics. However, modern psychedelic research has largely neglected autobiographical elements of psychedelic experiences, and many vital questions remain unanswered.ObjectivesWe present and discuss six open questions related to psychedelics and autobiographical memory: 1. Do psychedelics enhance autobiographical recall? 2. Is recall and processing of significant autobiographical (e.g., traumatic) memories a common part of psychedelic experiences? 3. Do psychedelics promote the development of false or inaccurate memories? 4. How do autobiographical memories change if they are recalled and reconsolidated under the effects of psychedelics? 5. What are memories of psychedelic experiences like? 6. Are autobiographical experiences under psychedelics of particular importance for their therapeutic effects?ResultsWe present the background and current limited state of evidence for each question and provide suggestions on how future studies could best address them. ConclusionsBesides advancing basic research, answering these pressing questions is highly relevant for the possible therapeutic use of psychedelics, both in terms of developing and optimizing new interventions and for avoiding iatrogenic harms. Ideally, future psychedelic-assisted interventions could harness the possible synergies between the effects of psychedelics and existing memory-based therapies.Keywords: Psychedelics, autobiographical memory, LSD, psilocybin