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Mind-Wandering Partially Mediates the Relationship Between Psychedelic Use and Enhanced Cognitive Flexibility: An Online Survey in University Students

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Stefanie Todesco¹ (), Christian Schütz^1,2; ¹University of British Columbia, ²British Columbia Mental Health & Substance Use Services

Objective: Mind-wandering has received growing interest due to its association with a variety of clinical and cognitive outcomes, including enhanced cognitive flexibility. Our previous study found that classic psychedelic use was associated with higher cognitive flexibility on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST), and mind-wandering may represent a candidate mechanism underlying this relationship. This cross-sectional online study examined whether trait-level mind-wandering mediates the association between psychedelic use and cognitive flexibility outcomes. Methods: 1442 university students completed a brief, online version of the WCST and the Mind Wandering Questionnaire (MWQ), and self-reported history of classic psychedelic (e.g., LSD, psilocybin) and other substance use as an online study. Mediation models examined the effect of MWQ scores on the relationship between lifetime and recent (6-month) history of psychedelic use and WCST cognitive flexibility outcomes (number of perseverative responses and errors), controlling for other substance use (alcohol, cannabis, other illicit drugs) and relevant demographic variables. Results: Lifetime (n = 237) and 6-month (n = 118) psychedelic use predicted higher MWQ scores, and greater MWQ scores predicted less perseverative responses and errors. Mediation models indicated that MWQ scores partially mediated the associations between both lifetime and recent psychedelic use and perseverative responses and recent, but not lifetime psychedelic use and perseverative errors. Conclusions: Findings suggest that trait-level mind-wandering may represent one mechanism through which both recent and lifetime psychedelic experiences promote adaptive cognitive flexibility. Future research is warranted to examine how mind wandering contributes to cognitive outcomes and interacts with psychedelic experiences.

Topic Area: EXECUTIVE PROCESSES: Other