Two reasons I’m sceptical about psychedelic science

By Michiel van Elk, Associate Professor, Cognitive Psychology, Leiden University

Since I was young, I have been intrigued by altered states of consciousness, such as out-of-body experiences, paranormal phenomena and religious visions. I studied psychology and neuroscience to gain a better understanding of how these experiences come about. And in my scientific career, I have focused on the question of why some people are more prone to having these experiences than others.

Naturally, when I came across psychedelic science a couple of years ago, this field also sparked my academic interest. Here was an opportunity to study people who had a psychedelic experience and…

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