CORRELATION BETWEEN THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE INDUCED BY VIRTUAL REALITY AND THE COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
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Abstract
Cognitive rigidity can impair behavioral adaptation, reduce creativity, and hinder problem-solving, representing a psychological vulnerability factor. Considering the potential of psychedelic experiences to enhance cognitive flexibility, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between a psychedelic experience induced by virtual reality (VR) and cognitive flexibility in undergraduate students from Centro Universitário FACENS. Primary data were collected using the States of Consciousness Questionnaire (SoCQ), the Tower of London Test (ToL), the Stroop Test, and a semi-structured interview. Ten volunteers were assessed under two distinct virtual reality conditions: a control condition and a psychedelic condition, allowing comparison of cognitive and subjective alterations between the two moments. Results showed that, on the SoCQ, most participants exhibited lower scores after the psychedelic condition, although qualitative reports described intense visual perceptions. The ToL revealed a trend toward statistical significance, with improvements in planning and problem-solving, while the Stroop test showed improvement in part of the cases, without statistical significance. These findings suggest that the psychedelic VR experience may support cognitive flexibility, even if it does not fully replicate the effects of classic psychedelic substances. The study also indicates that instruments originally developed for pharmacological contexts, such as the SoCQ, may not fully capture VR-based experiences. Overall, psychedelic VR emerges as a promising non-pharmacological tool for investigating cognition and states of consciousness.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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