Observational · 2026
Meditators scored higher than ayahuasca users on a measure of loosened self-focus
- Original title
- Investigating Hypo-Egoic Features: Ayahuasca's Psychedelic Path Versus Meditation's Mindful Journey.
- Authors
- Arqueros M, Soler J, Cebolla A, et al.
- Journal
- Human psychopharmacology, 2026
- Molecules
- Ayahuasca
- Conditions
- Other
- Participants
- 174
- Evidence grade
- Low
- Source
- Read the original paper
The question
Do people who use ayahuasca show the same loosening of ego-centred thinking as people who practise meditation, and does it build up with repeated use?
What they did
Researchers compared 37 ayahuasca users with 137 meditators. Everyone completed a questionnaire called the “Delusion of Me” (DoM) index, a single self-report score covering acceptance, decentering (stepping back from your own thoughts) and non-attachment. The researchers treated this score as a rough measure of how strongly a person identifies with a fixed sense of self. They also tested whether scores changed with the number of ayahuasca sessions or amount of meditation practice.
What they found
Meditators had significantly higher DoM scores than ayahuasca users. For ayahuasca, a statistical model looking for a build-up effect found no significant relationship between the number of ayahuasca sessions a person had taken part in and their DoM score. The authors report that cumulative meditation practice did show a significant non-linear association with DoM scores. The abstract does not report the actual scores, effect sizes or statistical values.
The fine print
This is a one-time snapshot comparing two very different self-selected groups, so it cannot show that either practice caused any difference; people drawn to long-term meditation may simply differ from the start. The ayahuasca group was small (37 people), and the outcome was a single self-report questionnaire rather than a clinical or mental health measure. The abstract reports no numbers, and its results and conclusions sections describe the meditation findings somewhat differently. This summary is based on the abstract only.
What it means
In this sample, regular meditators reported a less ego-centred style of relating to their own thoughts than ayahuasca users did, and repeated ayahuasca sessions were not linked to higher scores. The design cannot tell us whether either practice produces such changes over time.
Evidence grade: Low. A cross-sectional comparison of two self-selected groups using a single self-report questionnaire, with no randomization, no control group and no before-and-after measurement.
This summary is based on the study’s published abstract.