Systematic review · 2026
Review: can psychedelics and ketamine change how people read social cues?
- Original title
- Investigating the impact of serotonergic psychedelic drugs, MDMA and ketamine on social cognition in psychiatric disorders: A scoping review.
- Authors
- Smith SA, Mohammad H, Lee LHN, et al.
- Journal
- Psychopharmacology, 2026
- Molecules
- Ketamine, Psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, Ayahuasca
- Conditions
- Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, Other
- Evidence grade
- Low
- Source
- Read the original paper
The question
Do psychedelic drugs, MDMA or ketamine affect social cognition, meaning the mental skills used to read other people and manage relationships, in people with psychiatric or neurodevelopmental conditions?
What they did
The authors searched four research databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE and Scopus) for studies on this question. They found 20 studies that tested ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin, LSD or ayahuasca in people with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The studies were summarized descriptively rather than combined into a single statistic.
What they found
In depressive disorders, brain imaging studies suggested that ketamine and psilocybin may alter activity in areas involved in social perception, especially the processing of facial emotions. In PTSD, studies of MDMA reported improvements in self-reported psychosocial functioning, self-awareness and self-compassion. The authors concluded that direct evidence of actually improved social-cognitive performance remains limited.
The fine print
This is a scoping review: it maps what has been published rather than testing how strong or consistent the evidence is, and no pooled numbers are given. Many of the included findings are brain activity patterns or self-reported measures rather than demonstrated gains in social skills. The abstract does not state how many people took part in total, how the studies were designed, or how long participants were followed. This summary is based on the abstract only.
What it means
There are early signals that these drugs may touch brain processes and self-reported functioning related to social connection, but the review itself says direct proof of better social-cognitive ability is still lacking.
Evidence grade: Low. A scoping review that describes findings from 20 mixed studies without pooling results or formally rating study quality.
This summary is based on the study’s published abstract.