Increases in Aesthetic Experience Following Ayahuasca Use: A Prospective, Naturalistic Study

Classic serotonergic psychedelic drugs such as ayahuasca are being revisited by researchers because of their potential to produce lasting psychological and personality changes when used in controlled contexts alongside therapeutic support. While prior work has documented clinical and prosocial outcomes (for example, reductions in depression and increases in openness to experience), comparatively little systematic research has focused on aesthetic experience despite strong anecdotal reports and the prominent role of music, lighting and visual art in psychedelic settings. Aday and colleagues designed a prospective, naturalistic study to address this gap by administering a validated, multifaceted measure of aesthetic experience before and after participation in an ayahuasca retreat. The investigators also measured acute subjective effects during participants' most intense ayahuasca session—mystical-type experience (MEQ30), awe (AWE-S), and ego dissolution (EDI)—to test whether these acute phenomena predicted longer-term changes in aesthetic engagement.

Participants were recruited from Soltara Healing Centre, an ayahuasca retreat in Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica, and had to be at least 18 years old and clear a medical intake that screened out contraindicated psychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder), certain medications (e.g., lithium), and cardiac conditions. Recruitment occurred via email after retreat registration and a website posting; participants could enter a prize drawing for completing all survey sessions. The study used an open-label, within-subjects design with three assessment points: one week before the retreat (T1, baseline), one week after the retreat (T2), and one month after the retreat (T3). Institutional Review Board approval and informed consent were obtained. Measures included demographic variables collected at T1 (the extracted text does not fully report all demographic items), the Aesthetic Experience Questionnaire (AEQ; a multifaceted measure of aesthetic experience) at each time point, and at T2 the MEQ30 (mystical-type experience scale), AWE-S (awe scale), and EDI (Ego-Dissolution Inventory). The retreat context and dosing were naturalistic: participants stayed 5–12 nights, attended between 2 and 7 ayahuasca sessions (M = 3.67, SD = 0.85), and ceremonies were group-based (up to 21 people) led by Shipibo curanderos. Typical dosing reported in the extraction was approximately one ounce for first ceremonies and two ounces thereafter, with sessions lasting roughly five hours. For analysis, the researchers computed change scores on the AEQ (AEQΔ1 = T2 − T1; AEQΔ2 = T3 − T1) and ran a 3 × 6 repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Time (T1, T2, T3) and AEQ Facet (perceptual, emotional, cultural, understanding, flow—proximal conditions, flow experience) to test for overall and facet-specific changes. They then tested two-way Pearson correlations between MEQ30, AWE-S, EDI scores and the AEQ change scores to evaluate whether acute drug effects predicted longer-term change. The extracted methods do not report an intention-to-treat strategy beyond participant inclusion/exclusion described below.

The analytic sample comprised 54 participants after attrition and removal of one respondent who did not partake in any ceremonies (initial baseline N = 77; T2 N = 65; T3 N = 55). The final sample had a mean age of 41.17 (SD = 11.24), 24 female participants, was highly educated (88.9% with a college degree or higher), and predominantly non-Hispanic white (74.1%). Reported household income was relatively high for many participants (38.9% > $125,000/year). Prior psychedelic experience varied: 18.5% reported never having used a psychedelic, 29.6% reported 1–5 prior uses, and the remaining participants reported higher ranges up to >100 uses. Primary outcome results show a significant main effect of Time on AEQ total scores (F(1, 53) = 15.98, p < .001, eta_p^2 = 0.23), with AEQ scores at both one-week (T2) and one-month (T3) follow-ups significantly higher than baseline (T1). This indicates an increase in overall aesthetic experience that persisted for at least one month. The main effect of Facet was also significant (F(1, 53) = 141.40, p < .001, eta_p^2 = 0.73), while the Time × Facet interaction was not significant (F(1, 53) = 0.89, p > .05, eta_p^2 = 0.02). Pairwise comparisons indicated that every AEQ facet increased at T2 and T3 compared to baseline except the perceptual facet at T2, which did not reach significance (p = .103). Analyses testing predictors of change found that MEQ30, AWE-S, and EDI scores from participants' most intense ayahuasca session were not significantly correlated with one-week or one-month changes in AEQ total scores; correlation coefficients were described as generally trending in the expected direction but non-significant. The number of ayahuasca sessions attended was not related to AEQ change (r = −.01, p > .05).

Aday and colleagues interpret the findings as providing empirical support for widespread anecdotal claims that psychedelic experiences can increase engagement with and appreciation of aesthetic experiences. The observed increases in AEQ scores at one week and one month post-retreat suggest that changes in aesthetic experience following ayahuasca can be sustained for at least a month. Contrary to the authors' hypotheses, acute subjective effects commonly linked to longer-term outcomes—mystical-type experience (MEQ30), awe (AWE-S), and ego dissolution (EDI)—did not significantly predict changes in aesthetic experience. The investigators note that prior literature has found those acute measures to forecast various persisting psychological changes, and they raise the possibility that other mechanisms (for example, acute alterations in visual processing or changes in trait openness to experience) might better account for the observed shifts in aesthetic engagement. The paper cites earlier research linking openness with deeper aesthetic responses and the known impact of psychedelics on openness as a plausible pathway. Several limitations acknowledged by the authors temper the conclusions. The naturalistic, open-label design lacked a placebo or active-control condition and therefore cannot rule out expectancy effects or non-pharmacological contributors to change. The retreat context included amenities (e.g., hiking, yoga, social interactions) that may have influenced outcomes, and dosing as well as number of ceremonies varied across participants; however, number of sessions was not associated with AEQ change. The authors also note broader methodological challenges in psychedelic research regarding blinding, and they argue that open-label, ecologically valid designs have advantages even as better-controlled designs continue to be developed. Strengths of the study include adequate power for the planned analyses, strong participant retention, multiple post-acute follow-ups, ecological validity afforded by a real-world retreat setting, and use of a validated, multifaceted measure of aesthetic experience. The researchers conclude that their findings validate anecdotal reports of increased aesthetic engagement after ayahuasca use and provide groundwork for future studies that should address blinding, appropriate control groups, the role of setting, and the durability of effects over longer follow-up periods.