Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 18;14(1):24480. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-74810-w.
This meta-analysis investigates the effect of classic psychedelic drugs on empathy and focuses on cognitive and emotional empathy measured using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET). Empathy entails the ability to understand and share the feelings of another and is a significant component of social interaction. Several studies have examined the effects of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin and ayahuasca on empathy, yet their overall effect has not been studied so far. In this meta-analysis, we reviewed data from studies up to November 2023 with the aim of examining the effects of various psychedelic drugs on empathic abilities broadly. Our findings suggest that classical psychedelics significantly enhance explicit and implicit emotional empathy without affecting measures of cognitive empathy. The results emphasize the need to continue testing the therapeutic potential of classic psychedelic drugs.
这项荟萃分析研究了经典迷幻药物对同理心的影响,并重点关注使用多维同理心测试(MET)测量的认知同理心和情感同理心。同理心需要理解和分享他人的感受,是社交互动的重要组成部分。已有多项研究检查了 LSD、裸盖菇素和死藤水等迷幻药物对同理心的影响,但迄今为止尚未研究其整体效果。在这项荟萃分析中,我们回顾了截至 2023 年 11 月的研究数据,旨在广泛检查各种迷幻药物对同理心能力的影响。我们的研究结果表明,经典迷幻药物可显著增强外显和内隐的情感同理心,而不会影响认知同理心的测量。这些结果强调需要继续测试经典迷幻药物的治疗潜力。