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The impact of classic psychedelic use on sleep architecture and false memory formation

Poster Session E - Monday, March 9, 2026, 2:30 – 4:30 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Oliwia Zaborowska¹ (), Anna Duszyk-Bogorodzka¹, Jakub Schimmelpfennig¹, Karolina Marut¹, Gabriela Pawlak²; ¹Faculty of Psychology, SWPS University in Warsaw, ²Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw

Classic psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD primarily function as 5-HT2A receptor agonists, enhancing synaptic plasticity and altering conscious experience. Increasing evidence suggests their potential therapeutic value in treating mental health disorders, including depression. However, little is known about their long-term effects on cognition and sleep. This study examined whether regular psychedelic users differ from non-users in false memory formation and sleep architecture. Eleven psychedelic users and eleven non-users completed questionnaires assessing mood and sleep quality, followed by a Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) false memory task. Participants encoded lists of semantically related words (e.g., bed, nap, rest), then took a 2-hour nap under polysomnographic monitoring. Upon awakening, they performed a recognition task including critical lure words (e.g., “sleep”) that were semantically related but not previously presented. No differences were found in total sleep time, Stage 2+3 duration, sleep spindle density, or spindle amplitude. However, psychedelic users exhibited lower spindle frequency (11.62 ± 0.48 Hz) compared to controls (12.39 ± 0.69 Hz), t(20) = 3.01, p = 0.007. Regarding memory, users showed lower d’ scores (t(20) = –2.10, p = 0.049), suggesting greater susceptibility to false memory formation. Exploratory analyses within the user group revealed correlations between d’ scores and BDI-II and AIS questionnaire results. Overall, these findings indicate that psychedelic users may differ from non-users in specific aspects of sleep physiology and memory performance. These results highlight the need for further investigation into how chronic psychedelic use may alter sleep-related oscillatory activity and influence memory processes.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Episodic