Abstract:
Although several studies have been conducted to elucidate the relationship between psychedelic consumption and cognition, few have focused on understanding the long-term use influence of these substances on these variables, especially in ritualistic contexts. To verify the influence of ritualistic ayahuasca consumption on the cognition of experienced ayahuasca religious users (> 20 years) and beginners (< 3 years), which participated in rituals of the Centro Luz Divina (CLD), a Santo Daime church in Brazil. Observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study was carried out in which 48 people participated divided into three groups: (a) experienced ayahuasca users (n = 16), (b) beginner ayahuasca users (n = 16) and (c) control group (n = 16). All groups were matched by sex, age, and education and contained 8 women and 8 men. Cognition was assessed with the WASI (intelligence quotient), Digit Span (verbal working memory), Corsi Block-Tapping Task (visuospatial-related and working memory), Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test (visual perception, immediate memory), and Wisconsin Card Sorting and Five Digit Test (executive functions). Groups were homogenous in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, with participants presenting average intellectual performance. There was no evidence of cognitive decline amongst ayahuasca users. The experienced group showed higher scores compared to the less experienced group in the Digit Span and Corsi Block-Tapping tasks, which assess working verbal and visuospatial memories respectively. We confirmed the botanical identities of Psychotria viridis and Banisteriopsis caapi and the presence of the alkaloids both in the plants and in the brew. Short and long-term ayahuasca consumption does not seem to alter human cognition, while long-term use seems to be associated with improvements in aspects of working memory when compared with short-term use.
摘要:
尽管已经进行了一些研究来阐明迷幻药消费与认知之间的关系,很少有人专注于了解这些物质对这些变量的长期使用影响,尤其是在仪式的背景下。验证仪式性ayahuasca消费对有经验的ayahuasca宗教使用者(>20年)和初学者(<3年)的认知的影响,参加了卢兹·迪维纳中心(CLD)的仪式,巴西圣戴姆教堂。观察,描述性,描述性并进行了横断面研究,其中48人参加,分为三组:(a)有经验的ayahuasca用户(n=16),(b)初学者ayahuasca用户(n=16)和(c)对照组(n=16)。所有组都按性别匹配,年龄,和教育,包括8名女性和8名男性。使用WASI(智商)评估认知,数字跨度(口头工作记忆),Corsi块攻丝任务(视觉空间相关和工作记忆),Rey-Osterrieth复杂人物测试(视觉感知,立即记忆),和威斯康星卡片分类和五位数测试(执行功能)。群体在社会人口统计学特征方面是同质的,参与者表现出平均的智力表现。没有证据表明ayahuasca用户的认知能力下降。在DigitSpan和CorsiBlock-Tapping任务中,与经验不足的组相比,经验丰富的组表现出更高的分数,分别评估工作语言和视觉空间记忆。我们确认了Psychotriaviridis和Banisteriopsiscaapi的植物学身份以及植物和啤酒中生物碱的存在。短期和长期的ayahuasca消费似乎不会改变人类的认知,与短期使用相比,长期使用似乎与工作记忆方面的改善有关。