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Cited by 339Psychedelics and Drug StudiesReligion, Spirituality, and PsychologyAlkaloids: synthesis and pharmacology

Human psychopharmacology of hoasca, a plant hallucinogen used in ritual context in Brazil.

GROB, CHARLES S., McKENNA, DENNIS J., CALLAWAY, JAMES C., BRITO, GLACUS S., NEVES, EDISON S., OBERLAENDER, GUILHERME, SAIDE, OSWALDO L., LABIGALINI, ELIZEU +4 more·1996·The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
DOI 10.1097/00005053-199602000-00004
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Abstract

A multinational, collaborative, biomedical investigation of the effects of hoasca (ayahuasca), a potent concoction of plant hallucinogens, was conducted in the Brazilian Amazon during the summer of 1993. This report describes the psychological assessment of 15 long-term members of a syncretic church that utilizes hoasca as a legal, psychoactive sacrament as well as 15 matched controls with no prior history of hoasca ingestion. Measures administered to both groups included structured psychiatric diagnostic interviews, personality testing, and neuropsychological evaluation. Phenomenological assessment of the altered state experience as well as semistructured and open-ended life story interviews were conducted with the long-term use hoasca group, but not the hoasca-naive control group. Salient findings included the remission of psychopathology following the initiation of hoasca use along with no evidence of personality or cognitive deterioration. Overall assessment revealed high functional status. Implications of this unusual phenomenon and need for further investigation are discussed.

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Crossref · 10.1097/00005053-199602000-00004

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  • Ayahuasca displays potential mental health protection.

    “Ayahuasca also displays potential mental health protection (Bouso et al., 2012; Grob et al., 1996; Halpern et al., 2008)”

    From Psychological variables implied in the therapeutic effect of ayahuasca: A contextual approach (2018) · cites this paper as Grob et al., 1996

  • Cross-sectional and longitudinal case-control studies showed that ritual and religious ayahuasca users present fewer alcohol-related problems than control groups and that illicit drug use diminished after joining ayahuasca churches.

    “Cross-sectional and longitudinal case-control studies showed that ritual and religious ayahuasca users present fewer alcohol-related problems than control groups and that illicit drug use diminished after joining ayahuasca churches (Grob et al., 1996; Doering-Silveira et al., 2005; Halpern et al., 2008; Fábregas et al., 2010).”

    From The therapeutic potentials of Ayahuasca: possible effects against various diseases of civilization (2016) · cites this paper as Grob et al., 1996

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Authors
GROB, C. S., McKENNA, D. J., CALLAWAY, J. C., BRITO, G. S., NEVES, E. S., OBERLAENDER, G., SAIDE, O. L., LABIGALINI, E., TACLA, C., MIRANDA, C. T., STRASSMAN, R. J., & BOONE, K. B.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • University of Eastern Finland (FI)
  • University of New Mexico (US)
ORCID
BOONE, KYLE B.
Venue
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Published
1996-02
Volume
184
Issue
2
Pages
86-94
ISSN
0022-3018 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1097/00005053-199602000-00004
OpenAlex
W2161617741
Cited by
338
References
23
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 14
FWCI
7.37
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UNIFESP Institutional Repository (Universidade Federal de São Paulo) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
  • Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Alkaloids: synthesis and pharmacology
Keywords
ayahuasca, ritual drug use, personality, cognitive function, altered states of consciousness, life story interviews, Amazonian indigenous peoples
MeSH terms
Adult, Mental Disorders, Brazil, Cognition, Hallucinogens, Harmine, Humans, Magic, Male, Medicine, Traditional, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Personality, Plants, Medicinal, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Religion and Medicine, Tea, Verbal Learning, Substance-Related Disorders

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