RCT · 2026
Ayahuasca changed brain connectivity in social-perception regions in 12 healthy adults
- Original title
- Ayahuasca enhances functional connectivity in the third visual pathway and mirror neuron networks: a crossover, multiple-dose functional MRI study.
- Authors
- Soares C, Lima G, Teixeira M, et al.
- Journal
- Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 2026
- Molecules
- Ayahuasca, DMT
- Conditions
- Healthy volunteers
- Participants
- 12
- Evidence grade
- Very low
- Source
- Read the original paper
The question
Does ayahuasca change how brain regions involved in reading other people’s faces and intentions talk to each other?
What they did
Twelve healthy adults (average age 40, four women) each received three conditions in a crossover design: ayahuasca standardized to 0.5 mg/kg of DMT, ayahuasca at 0.8 mg/kg of DMT, and a placebo, with one to two months between sessions. Brain scans (resting-state functional MRI) measured connectivity involving the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), a region linked to recognizing facial emotion and understanding other people. Participants also reported their subjective experiences, and were followed up one week later.
What they found
The higher dose significantly increased connectivity of the right pSTS and strengthened signalling to it from visual areas (primary and extrastriate cortex) and from a ‘mirror neuron’ region, the supplementary motor cortex. Participants reported heightened social-cognitive states, and connectivity between the pSTS and supplementary motor cortex correlated strongly and positively with reported perspective-taking experiences. At one-week follow-up, participants reported positive psychological effects, including improved perceived social relationships, despite what the authors describe as minimal acute effects.
The fine print
Only 12 healthy volunteers took part, so results may not generalize and small samples can produce unstable findings. The abstract does not report whether participants or raters could tell placebo from ayahuasca, nor does it give exact numbers for the connectivity or questionnaire results. Follow-up was one week, outcomes were brain measures and self-report rather than clinical improvement, and this summary is based on the abstract alone.
What it means
In a small crossover study, a higher ayahuasca dose was associated with stronger connectivity in brain regions tied to social perception, alongside self-reported shifts in perspective-taking. It is early mechanistic work in healthy people, not evidence of a treatment effect.
Evidence grade: Very low. A placebo-controlled crossover brain-imaging study, but with only 12 healthy participants and mainly brain-scan rather than clinical outcomes.
This summary is based on the study’s published abstract.