Individuals who consumed a psychedelic brew known as ayahuasca experienced a significant increase in their appreciation for aesthetic experiences, not just momentarily but extending up to a month post-consumption, according to new research published in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic tea with deep roots in South American ceremonial practices. It is typically made by combining two primary ingredients: the leaves of Psychotria viridis, rich in the psychedelic compound N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and the vines of Banisteriopsis caapi, containing substances that ensure DMT’s active passage through the digestive system. Its use has been historically associated with spiritual and healing ceremonies but has caught the Western world’s attention in recent decades.
Despite the wealth of anecdotal accounts linking psychedelics with enhanced sensitivity to art and beauty, systematic studies on this phenomenon have been scarce. By focusing on individuals attending an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica, the authors behind the new study aimed to shed light on whether psychedelics can indeed enhance how we experience and value art and beauty.
“Psychedelics, art, and aesthetic experiences have always been deeply intertwined, but this has often been overlooked by clinical researchers,” said study author Jacob S. Aday, a research investigator in the Michigan Psychedelic Center and the Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan.
“This surprised us given the wealth of anecdotal reports noting increased interest in art and appreciation of beauty more generally after psychedelic use, the amount of artwork inspired by psychedelic experiences for millenia, and that there was an entire artistic movement in the 1960s influenced by psychedelics (i.e., ‘Psychedelic Art’). Given these leads, it was apparent to our research team that studies incorporating validated measures of aesthetic experience before and after psychedelic use were needed.”
The study included 54 participants who engaged in multiple ayahuasca ceremonies, typically ranging from two to seven sessions over the course of 5 to 12 nights. These ceremonies were communal, conducted in a traditional maloca long house, and led by indigenous Shipibo healers. During these sessions, participants consumed ayahuasca in a ritualistic setting designed to facilitate introspection and spiritual exploration.
The participants completed a detailed questionnaire one week before attending the retreat. This initial survey collected demographic information, including age, gender identity, education, income, ethnoracial identity, and previous experiences with psychedelics. Additionally, participants completed the Aesthetic Experience Questionnaire (AEQ), a tool designed to assess various dimensions of aesthetic appreciation, including perceptual, emotional, cultural, and understanding facets, as well as experiences of flow.
Following the retreat, participants completed the AEQ again, once within a week and once a month after the retreat, to measure any changes in their aesthetic experiences. Additionally, at the one-week follow-up, participants were asked to reflect on their most intense ayahuasca session, specifically focusing on any experiences of mystical states, awe, and ego dissolution. This was done through completing three additional questionnaires: the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30), the AWE Experience Scale (AWE-S), and the Ego Dissolution Inventory (EDI).
Participants reported a significant and lasting increase in their appreciation for beauty and art, an effect that was observed both one week and one month following their retreat experience. This enhancement in aesthetic appreciation spanned various facets measured by the AEQ, including emotional engagement, cultural understanding, and experiences of flow. This broad enhancement suggests that ayahuasca may affect a general disposition towards aesthetic experiences rather than specific perceptual changes.
“We found that there was a significant increase in aesthetic experience after attending the retreat that was maintained at both follow-ups,” Aday told PsyPost. “We were surprised to find that these increases in aesthetic experience seemed to be very general and nonspecific, as virtually every facet of the AEQ increased at both follow-ups. Although further research is needed, these findings support that experiences with ayahuasca and potentially other psychedelics can be followed by increased appreciation of aesthetic experiences. ”
Interestingly, the study also explored whether certain aspects of the psychedelic experience—such as mystical experiences, feelings of awe, and experiences of ego dissolution—predicted changes in aesthetic appreciation. Contrary to the researchers’ initial hypotheses, these specific experiences during the most intense ayahuasca sessions did not significantly correlate with the observed changes in aesthetic appreciation.
“The major limitation to this study is that it used an open-label design where participants were not randomized between conditions,” Aday noted. “Because of this, it is possible that treatment-nonspecific factors, such as the placebo effect or regression to the mean, could have contributed to these changes.”
“However, participants were not told that the purpose of the study was to examine changes in aesthetic experience nor were they selected for meeting a minimum or maximum criteria of aesthetic experience, which should buffer against expectancy effects and regression to the mean, respectively. Nonetheless, future randomized controlled trials are needed.”
Despite these limitations, the research provides a valuable foundation for future investigations into the multifaceted impacts of ayahuasca and other psychedelics on human experiences and well-being.
“This research project is part of a broader initiative to characterize the potential long-term prosocial sequelae of psychedelic use,” Aday said. “Although change in disease symptoms has been the focus of most recent psychedelic research, a variety of prosocial changes related to gratitude, nature relatedness, aesthetic experience, etc. have been anecdotally reported by people who take psychedelics and overlooked by researchers. This may be an important oversight given the role of those constructs in mental health.”
The study, “Increases in Aesthetic Experience Following Ayahuasca Use: A Prospective, Naturalistic Study,” was authored by Jacob S. Aday, Emily K. Bloesch, Alan K. Davis, Sarah E. Domoff, Kyle Scherr, Josh D. Woolley, and Christopher C. Davoli.