Survey · 2026
Survey compares the sense of familiarity in psychedelic experiences with déjà vu and memory
- Original title
- Characterizing Psychedelic-Evoked Familiarity: A Comparative Study with Autobiographical and Déjà Vu Experiences.
- Authors
- Lawrence DW, Doss MK, O'Connor AR
- Journal
- Journal of psychoactive drugs, 2026
- Molecules
- Other
- Conditions
- Other
- Participants
- 1050
- Evidence grade
- Low
- Source
- Read the original paper
The question
Psychedelic experiences are often described as feeling strangely familiar. The researchers asked whether this sense of familiarity differs from everyday familiarity, such as recalling a personal memory or having a déjà vu moment.
What they did
An anonymous online survey was completed by 1,050 people. Participants filled out the Sense of Familiarity Questionnaire and rated the emotions tied to at least one of three types of experience: a psychedelic experience, an autobiographical memory, or a déjà vu episode. Responses across the three experience types were then compared.
What they found
On every item of the familiarity questionnaire, psychedelic experiences were rated significantly higher in familiarity than the other two experience types, especially on items grouped under “familiarity with transcendent features”. Psychedelic experiences were also rated as more emotionally intense, more novel and more comfortable, with no increase in anxiety compared with the other experiences. Classic psychedelics generally produced strong familiarity, though emotional responses varied by substance type. Most participants described the familiarity as authentic and positive, and about half reported lasting effects such as emotional change, a sense of interconnectedness, and reduced fear of death.
The fine print
This was a one-time online survey, so people chose to take part and may have been unusually positive about psychedelics. All answers relied on memory and self-report, with no comparison group taking a placebo and no clinical measures of mental health. The abstract does not report specific numbers for most findings, the doses or substances used, or how long ago the experiences occurred. This summary is based on the abstract only.
What it means
People report that the familiarity felt during a psychedelic experience is qualitatively different from ordinary memory or déjà vu, but this survey can only describe the experience, not show that it produces lasting benefit.
Evidence grade: Low. An anonymous online survey with self-selected participants recalling past experiences, with no control group, randomization or objective measures.
This summary is based on the study’s published abstract.