A qualitative report on the subjective experience of intravenous psilocybin administered in an FMRI environment.

BACKGROUND This report documents the phenomenology of the subjective experiences of 15 healthy psychedelic experienced volunteers who were involved in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study that was designed to image the brain effects of intravenous psilocybin. METHODS The participants underwent a semi-structured interview exploring the effects of psilocybin in the MRI scanner. These interviews were analysed by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The resultant data is ordered in a detailed matrix, and presented in this paper. RESULTS Nine broad categories of phenomenology were identified in the phenomenological analysis of the experience; perceptual changes including visual, auditory and somatosensory distortions, cognitive changes, changes in mood, effects of memory, spiritual or mystical type experiences, aspects relating to the scanner and research environment, comparisons with other experiences, the intensity and onset of effects, and individual interpretation of the experience. DISCUSSION This article documents the phenomenology of psilocybin when given in a novel manner (intravenous injection) and setting (an MRI scanner). The findings of the analysis are consistent with previous published work regarding the subjective effects of psilocybin. There is much scope for further research investigating the phenomena identified in this paper.

• Publication year

  2015

• Venue

  Current Drug Abuse Reviews

• Publication date

  2015-01-27

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.2174/1874473708666150107120930PMID 25563444
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Co-administration of ethanol and nicotine: the enduring alterations in the rewarding properties of nicotine and glutamate activity within the mesocorticolimbic system of female alcohol-preferring (P) rats

  2015influential reference
• Effects of Schedule I drug laws on neuroscience research and treatment innovation

  2013cited by this paper
• Influence of meditation on anti-correlated networks in the brain

  2012cited by this paper
• Mind wandering and attention during focused meditation: A fine-grained temporal analysis of fluctuating cognitive states

  2012cited by this paper
• Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin

  2012cited by this paper
• Prediction of Psilocybin Response in Healthy Volunteers

  2012cited by this paper
• Implications for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: functional magnetic resonance imaging study with psilocybin.

  2012cited by this paper
• Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity

  2011cited by this paper
• The administration of psilocybin to healthy, hallucinogen-experienced volunteers in a mock-functional magnetic resonance imaging environment: a preliminary investigation of tolerability

  2011cited by this paper
• Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness

  2011cited by this paper
• The 5-HT2A/1A agonist psilocybin disrupts modal object completion associated with visual hallucinations.

  2011cited by this paper
• Pilot study of psilocybin treatment for anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer.

  2011cited by this paper
• Acute, subacute and long-term subjective effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: a pooled analysis of experimental studies

  2011influential reference
• Psychometric Evaluation of the Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale (OAV)

  2010influential reference
• The persistence of the subjective in neuropsychopharmacology: observations of contemporary hallucinogen research

  2010cited by this paper
• Psychiatric Research with Hallucinogens: What have we learned?

  2010cited by this paper
• Generic aspects of complexity in brain imaging data and other biological systems

  2009cited by this paper
• Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later

  2008cited by this paper
• Is it time to revisit the role of psychedelic drugs in enhancing human creativity?

  2008cited by this paper
• Mapping the Structural Core of Human Cerebral Cortex

  2008cited by this paper
• Human hallucinogen research: guidelines for safety

  2008cited by this paper
• Effects of varied doses of psilocybin on time interval reproduction in human subjects.

  2008cited by this paper
• The Good-Subject Effect: Investigating Participant Demand Characteristics

  2008cited by this paper
• The SAGE handbook of qualitative research in psychology

  2008cited by this paper
• Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference.

  2007cited by this paper
• Effects of psilocybin on time perception and temporal control of behaviour in humans

  2007cited by this paper
• Safety, tolerability, and efficacy of psilocybin in 9 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

  2006cited by this paper
• Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD

  2006cited by this paper
• Summer of love : psychedelic art, social crisis and counterculture in the 1960s

  2005cited by this paper
• Can psychedelics have a role in psychiatry once again?

  2005cited by this paper
• Psychedelic drugs: The ups and downs of ecstasy

  2004cited by this paper
• Introducing Qualitative Research in Psychology

  2001influential reference
• Medial prefrontal cortex and self-referential mental activity: Relation to a default mode of brain function

  2001cited by this paper
• Psychometric assessment of the Hallucinogen Rating Scale.

  2001cited by this paper
• Inaugural Article: A default mode of brain function

  2001cited by this paper
• Neurometabolic Effects of Psilocybin, 3,4-Methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDE) and d-Methamphetamine in Healthy Volunteers A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled PET Study with [18F]FDG

  1999cited by this paper
• The neural correlates of consciousness: an analysis of cognitive skill learning.

  1998cited by this paper
• Treatment of alcoholism using psychedelic drugs: a review of the program of research.

  1998cited by this paper
• The Standardized Psychometric Assessment of Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) in Humans

  1998influential reference
• Positron Emission Tomography and Fluorodeoxyglucose Studies of Metabolic Hyperfrontality and Psychopathology in the Psilocybin Model of Psychosis

  1997cited by this paper
• Determination of psilocin and 4-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid in plasma by HPLC-ECD and pharmacokinetic profiles of oral and intravenous psilocybin in man.

  1997cited by this paper
• Dose-response study of N,N-dimethyltryptamine in humans. II. Subjective effects and preliminary results of a new rating scale.

  1994cited by this paper
• Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy

  1990cited by this paper
• LSD: My Problem Child—Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism, and Science

  1983cited by this paper
• LSD My Problem Child: Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism and Science

  1983cited by this paper
• The Human Encounter with Death

  1977cited by this paper
• HALLUCINOGENS

  1970cited by this paper
• Psychedelic drugs and mystical experience.

  1969cited by this paper
• The Religious Experience: Its Production and Interpretation

  1968cited by this paper
• Altered states of consciousness.

  1966cited by this paper
• Psilocybin, ein psychotroper Wirkstoff aus dem mexikanischen RauschpilzPsilocybe mexicana Heim

  1958cited by this paper
• The Varieties of Religious Experience, A Study in Human Nature.

  year unknowncited by this paper
• O R I G I N a L I N V E S T I G a T I O N Open Access

  year unknowninfluential reference

• The phenomenology of psilocybin: transformative insights for research and clinical practice

  2025cites this paper
• Adverse event reporting and management in psilocybin therapy clinical trials: A systematic review to guide clinical and research protocol development.

  2025cites this paper
• Exploring psychedelic experiences among people who regularly use methamphetamine: Findings from an international survey.

  2025cites this paper
• Islam and Psychedelics: An Essay on the Issues of Permissibility and Medical Utility

  2025cites this paper
• Psychedelic-assisted therapy for treating anxiety, depression, and existential distress in people with life-threatening diseases.

  2024cites this paper
• Neurochemical characterization of 5-HT2AR partial agonists with simultaneous PET-MRI

  2024cites this paper
• Psychedelic therapies and belief change: are there risks of epistemic harm or epistemic injustice?

  2024cites this paper
• Psilocybin’s effects on cognition and creativity: A scoping review

  2023cites this paper
• The central role of the Thalamus in psychosis, lessons from neurodegenerative diseases and psychedelics

  2023cites this paper
• Perceptions of psychedelic personality change, determinants of use, setting and drug moderation: Toward a holistic model

  2023cites this paper
• Ayahuasca: A review of historical, pharmacological, and therapeutic aspects

  2023cites this paper
• Imprinting: expanding the extra-pharmacological model of psychedelic drug action to incorporate delayed influences of sets and settings

  2023cites this paper
• Psychedelics, entropic brain theory, and the taxonomy of conscious states: a summary of debates and perspectives

  2023cites this paper
• Can psilocybin be safely administered under medical supervision? A systematic review of adverse event reporting in clinical trials

  2022cites this paper
• Psychedelic/entactogen-assisted therapy for treatment of anxiety, depression and existential distress in adult palliative care

  2022cites this paper
• Self-Entropic Broadening Theory: Toward a New Understanding of Self and Behavior Change Informed by Psychedelics and Psychosis

  2022cites this paper
• A Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)-Guided Dashboard to Review Psilocybin Target Domains: A Systematic Review

  2022cites this paper
• A Dose of Creativity: An Integrative Review of the Effects of Serotonergic Psychedelics on Creativity

  2022cites this paper
• Revista ConCiencia EPG–Edición Especial Marzo 2022 ISSN digital: 2517-9896

  2022cites this paper
• Psilocybin-Induced Mystical-Type Experiences are Related to Persisting Positive Effects: A Quantitative and Qualitative Report

  2022cites this paper
• The acute effects of classic psychedelics on memory in humans

  2021cites this paper
• Four individuals' experiences during and following a psilocybin truffle retreat in the Netherlands

  2021cites this paper
• “This Is Something That Changed My Life”: A Qualitative Study of Patients' Experiences in a Clinical Trial of Ketamine Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorders

  2021cites this paper
• Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

  2021cites this paper
• An Encounter With the Other: A Thematic and Content Analysis of DMT Experiences From a Naturalistic Field Study

  2021cites this paper
• The emerging science of microdosing: A systematic review of research on low dose psychedelics (1955 - 2021) and recommendations for the field.

  2021cites this paper
• Experience of Music Used With Psychedelic Therapy: A Rapid Review and Implications.

  2020cites this paper
• Depression, Mindfulness, and Psilocybin: Possible Complementary Effects of Mindfulness Meditation and Psilocybin in the Treatment of Depression. A Review

  2020cites this paper
• What Psilocybin Taught Me, One Year Later

  2020cites this paper
• 5-HT2A mediated plasticity as a target in major depression: a narrative review connecting the dots from neurobiology to cognition and psychology

  2020cites this paper
• Hallucinating Facts: Psychedelic Science and the Epistemic Power of Data

  2020cites this paper
• Broadening Your Mind to Include Others: The relationship between serotonergic psychedelic experiences and maladaptive narcissism

  2020cites this paper
• Editorial: Hallucinogens and Entactogens: Establishing a New Class of Psychotherapeutic Drugs?

  2020cites this paper
• REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics

  2019cites this paper
• New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), Psychedelic Experiences and Dissociation: Clinical and Clinical Pharmacological Issues

  2019cites this paper
• Psychedelics as a treatment for disorders of consciousness

  2019cites this paper
• The Pharmacology of Visual Hallucinations in Synucleinopathies

  2019cites this paper
• Dynamical exploration of the repertoire of brain networks at rest is modulated by psilocybin

  2019cites this paper
• Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Paradigm Shift in Psychiatric Research and Development

  2018cites this paper
• Unifying Theories of Psychedelic Drug Effects

  2018cites this paper
• Psychedelic revival: a mixed-methods analysis of recreational magic mushroom (psilocybin) use for transformational, micro-dosing and leisure purposes

  2018cites this paper
• Serotonin and brain function: a tale of two receptors

  2017cites this paper
• A phenomenological analysis of the subjective experience elicited by ibogaine in the context of a drug dependence treatment

  2017cites this paper
• Of Roots and Fruits: A Comparison of Psychedelic and Nonpsychedelic Mystical Experiences

  2017cites this paper
• Studies with psychedelic drugs in human volunteers

  2017cites this paper
• Psychedelic pleasures: An affective understanding of the joys of tripping.

  2017cites this paper
• Patient Experiences of Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

  2017cites this paper
• Of Roots and Fruits

  2016cites this paper
• Decreased mental time travel to the past correlates with default-mode network disintegration under lysergic acid diethylamide

  2016influential citation
• Psychedelics

  2016influential citation
• The philosophy of psychedelic transformation

  2015cites this paper