Knowledge Tree
Relations (1)
related 2.00 — strongly supporting 3 facts
Psilocybin is linked to social cognition through its evolutionary role in developing symbolic behavior [1], its direct modulation of empathy and emotional processing [2], and its specific investigation in clinical research regarding moral decision-making [3].
Facts (3)
Sources
Psychedelics, Sociality, and Human Evolution frontiersin.org 3 facts
referencePokorny et al. (2017) published 'Effect of psilocybin on empathy and moral decision-making' in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, investigating the impact of the psychedelic compound psilocybin on social cognition.
claimPsilocybin modulates social cognition by increasing empathy for positive emotions and reducing the recognition and processing of negative emotional faces, which facilitates social approach behaviors.
claimThe integration of psilocybin into ancient diet, communal practice, and proto-religious activity could have sustained feedback loops where increases in social cognition and symbolic behavior selected for further increases in those capacities.