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Personality, psychopathology, life attitudes and neuropsychological performance among ritual users of ayahuasca: a longitudinal study.
Open accessAbstract
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychoactive plant beverage containing the serotonergic 5-HT(2A) agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and monoamine oxidase-inhibiting alkaloids (harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine) that render it orally active. Ayahuasca ingestion is a central feature in several Brazilian syncretic churches that have expanded their activities to urban Brazil, Europe and North America. Members of these groups typically ingest ayahuasca at least twice per month. Prior research has shown that acute ayahuasca increases blood flow in prefrontal and temporal brain regions and that it elicits intense modifications in thought processes, perception and emotion. However, regular ayahuasca use does not seem to induce the pattern of addiction-related problems that characterize drugs of abuse. To study the impact of repeated ayahuasca use on general psychological well-being, mental health and cognition, here we assessed personality, psychopathology, life attitudes and neuropsychological performance in regular ayahuasca users (n = 127) and controls (n = 115) at baseline and 1 year later. Controls were actively participating in non-ayahuasca religions. Users showed higher Reward Dependence and Self-Transcendence and lower Harm Avoidance and Self-Directedness. They scored significantly lower on all psychopathology measures, showed better performance on the Stroop test, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the Letter-Number Sequencing task from the WAIS-III, and better scores on the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale. Analysis of life attitudes showed higher scores on the Spiritual Orientation Inventory, the Purpose in Life Test and the Psychosocial Well-Being test. Despite the lower number of participants available at follow-up, overall differences with controls were maintained one year later. In conclusion, we found no evidence of psychological maladjustment, mental health deterioration or cognitive impairment in the ayahuasca-using group.
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“It has been repeatedly found that ingestion of a psychedelic drug can induce rapid and persisting changes in personality traits, and particularly reductions in neuroticism, in both healthy and clinical populations (24, 35–41).”
From Decreases in State and Trait Anxiety Post-psilocybin: A Naturalistic, Observational Study Among Retreat Attendees (2022) · cites this paper as [35]
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“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 Bouso et al., 2012
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“Bouso et al. (2012) found higher scores for spiritual orientation and purpose in life in ayahuasca users”
From Psychological variables implied in the therapeutic effect of ayahuasca: A contextual approach (2018) · cites this paper as Bouso et al. (2012)
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“Another study comparing personality traits between long-term ayahuasca users and non-users showed higher scores in the former of 'Self-transcendence' (Bouso et al., 2012)”
From Psychological variables implied in the therapeutic effect of ayahuasca: A contextual approach (2018) · cites this paper as Bouso et al., 2012
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“differences in life purpose and related variables in long-term ayahuasca users (Barbosa et al., 2016; Bouso et al., 2012).”
From Psychological variables implied in the therapeutic effect of ayahuasca: A contextual approach (2018) · cites this paper as Bouso et al., 2012
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Research works printed but not linked: 3
- [32]Bouso JC, Riba J (2011) An overview of the literature on the pharmacology and neuropsychiatric long term effects of ayahuasca. In: Santos R.G. (Ed.): The ethnopharmacology of ayahuasca. Kerala, India: Transworld Research Network. pp: 55–63. Ebook. Available: http://www.trnres.com/ebook/uploads/rafael/T_12998350813%20Rafael.pdf. Accessed: 2012 March 2.
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O’Leary, E., Dodd, S., & Stahl, S. M. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009585330.003
Personality, not cognition, distinguishes chronic ayahuasca and cannabis users from non-users
Bouso, J. C., Andión, Ó., Fondevila, S., González, D., Alcázar-Córcoles, M. Á., Kohek, M., SANTOS, R. G. D., Hallak, J. E. C., & Jordi Riba, A. (2026) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2026.112782
Bouso, J. C., Andión, Ó., Cantillo, J., Pérez, I. H., Farré, M., Obiols, J. E., & González, D. (2026) · Psychedelics · doi:10.1016/j.psyche.2026.100018
Mano‐Sousa, B. J., Fontes, M. C. G., Gonçalves, A. A., Galduróz, J. C. F., & Duarte‐Almeida, J. M. (2026) · Journal of Psychoactive Drugs · doi:10.1080/02791072.2026.2661580
Xin, Y., Davis, A. K., Yoon, S., & Lee, M. Y. (2026) · Psychedelic Medicine · doi:10.1177/28314425261448756
Classic psychedelics and personality: An updated systematic review
Vicentini, A. B., de Paula, C. C., Reis, J. A. S., Bouso, J. C., Hallak, J. E. C., & SANTOS, R. G. D. (2026) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/02698811261449386
Fonseca, F. C. D. S., Machado, D. P. D., Cavalcante, A. D., Perez, A. C., Romero, T. R. L., & Duarte, I. D. G. (2026) · Journal of Pain Research and Management · doi:10.46439/painresearch.2.015
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Ogbu, J. I., Moreira, C. V. L., Olusola, A. J., Lacerda, R. F., Maggi, L. E., Filho, A. S. S., Xavier, C. H., Pedrino, G. R., Costa, É. A., & Fajemiroye, J. O. (2026) · Current Pharmacology Reports · doi:10.1007/s40495-026-00472-z
de Paula, C. C., Vicentini, A. B., Guerra, L. T. L., Maekawa, R. M., Reis, J. A. S., Villanova, B., Gomes, C. C., Bellucci, T., Rossi, G. N., Bouso, J. C., et al. (2026) · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1097/jcp.0000000000002267
Metadata
- Authors
- Bouso, J. C., González, D., Fondevila, S., Cutchet, M., Fernández, X., Ribeiro Barbosa, P. C., Alcázar-Córcoles, M. Á., Araújo, W. S., Barbanoj, M. J., Fábregas, J. M., & Riba, J.
- Affiliations
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Bouso, José Carlos
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2012-08-08
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- e42421
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3414465
- OpenAlex
- W2100834566
- Cited by
- 313
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 6
- FWCI
- 15.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion)
- Tesis Doctorals en Xarxa (Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya) (publishedVersion)
- Biblos-e Archivo (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Hispana (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Keywords
- ayahuasca, ritual drug use, personality, psychopathology, life attitude, neuropsychological performance, cognitive function, psychological well-being, harm avoidance, reward dependence, self-transcendence, self-direction, Stroop task, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Frontal Systems Behavior Scale, spiritual orientation, meaning of life, psychosocial well-being
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attitude, Brazil, Cerebrovascular Circulation, Ceremonial Behavior, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Neuropsychology, Personality, Psychopathology, Reward, Case-Control Studies, Banisteriopsis
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