Psychedelics are often said to boost creativity. A new study by Dila Suay from IMT School for Advanced Studies in Italy, Milan Scheidegger from University of Zurich and colleagues shows the story is more complex: while an ayahuasca-inspired formulation disrupted structured problem-solving, it also reshaped how people experienced moments of creative insight during painting.
Psychedelics such as ayahuasca and psilocybin are often linked to bursts of creativity. But do they truly make people more creative? A new study offers a more nuanced answer. Researchers tested 30 healthy participants under three different conditions: a placebo, harmine (a component of ayahuasca), and a formulation combining harmine with the psychedelic compound DMT. Each participant took part in all three sessions, completing both structured creativity tasks and a real-world artistic challenge – painting while reflecting on their creative process.
The findings challenge the popular belief that psychedelics reliably boost creativity. Under the influence of DMT/harmine, participants performed worse on tasks that required structured, logical problem-solving, also known as convergent thinking. Their ability to generate new uses for everyday objects, a measure of divergent thinking, was not significantly improved either. Where psychedelics did make a difference was in the creative process itself. During painting, participants under both DMT/harmine and harmine were less likely to move through reflective “incubation” stages that typically precede moments of sudden insight. In fact, DMT/harmine specifically disrupted the transition from incubation to illumination – the mental leap often described as the “aha!” moment. Instead, creative ideas appeared to flow in a less structured, more spontaneous way.
Interestingly, participants reported feeling more insightful and fluid in their thinking, even when their measurable performance did not always match those feelings. This suggests that psychedelics may not straightforwardly increase creativity but rather alter how creativity is experienced. Concluding, the study highlights the need to examine not only the outcomes of creativity, but also the dynamic processes that shape it.
Reference: Suay D, Aicher HD, Singer B, Müller M, Jelusic A, Calzaferri L, Springfield P, Dornbierer DA, Scheidegger M. Ayahuasca-inspired DMT/harmine formulation alters creative thinking dynamics during artistic creation. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 2025; 0(0) https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811251353256
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