Psychedelic Experiences of Familiarity Compared to Personal Memories and Déjà Vu

Psychedelic experiences were rated significantly higher in familiarity, particularly in the 'Familiarity with Transcendent Features' category.

• Psychedelic experiences were associated with greater emotional intensity, novelty, and comfort compared to autobiographical and déjà vu experiences.
• No increased anxiety was reported with psychedelic experiences relative to other experience types.
• Classic psychedelics elicited strong feelings of familiarity, while emotional responses varied among different types of psychedelics.
• Most participants described the familiarity from psychedelics as authentic and positively impactful.
• Approximately half of the participants reported enduring effects, including emotional transformation and reduced fear of death.
• Psychedelic-evoked familiarity appears to be phenomenologically distinct from other forms of familiarity.

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