Scientists have found that immersive virtual reality may offer a way to replicate some of the psychological benefits associated with psychedelic substances, but without the use of any drugs.
In a recent study published in Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, a team at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan reported that virtual reality could be used to produce positive effects similar to those seen in psychedelic-assisted therapy.
The project, titled Cyberdelics, was led by Dr. Giulia Brizzi and Dr. Chiara Pupillo and coordinated by Professor Giuseppe Riva, director of the Humane Technology Lab. The study examined whether immersive digital environments that simulate visual hallucinations could provide the same cognitive flexibility and creative stimulation observed in psychedelic research.
Virtual Psychedelics
“We have demonstrated for the first time that virtual reality is capable of replicating some of the positive effects typically associated with the use of psychotropic substances, among which the increase in cognitive flexibility and creativity is particularly significant,” said co-author Professor Giuseppe Riva in a statement.
While technologies designed to produce altered states of consciousness have been pursued in the past, the idea has received new attention with the increased interest in both psychedelic treatments and virtual reality in the last decade. Within the psychiatric community, psychedelics themselves remain a subject of debate and are not legally approved for routine therapeutic use.
Despite their controversy, some clinics and experimental protocols are using the substances for patients with difficult and treatment-resistant issues such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, which have failed to yield to traditional therapy. With these experimental treatments returning positive results, Italy authorized the first clinical trial of psilocybin as a treatment for therapy-resistant depression last summer.
Simulating Psychedelic Vision
The research team behind the recent study designed immersive virtual reality scenarios to replicate perceptual distortions commonly described in psychedelic experiences. These were created by processing a relaxation video through Google’s DeepDream algorithm to generate a virtual environment with hallucinatory visual effects.
Fifty healthy volunteers participated in two separate ten-minute VR sessions. In one session, they experienced a peaceful digital setting called The Secret Garden. In the other, the same environment was altered with DeepDream’s swirling, hallucinatory visuals. The researchers then observed the participants for changes in emotional and cognitive states after each session.
The results showed that the hallucinatory VR session produced clear changes in participants’ emotions, physiological responses, and cognitive flexibility compared to the control environment. Even brief exposure to the cyberdelic environment appeared to boost creativity, openness, and other effects also reported with the use of psychedelic drugs.
Exploring Digital Alternatives to Psychedelics
The Milan-based researchers say cyberdelics could also be used as a non-pharmacological alternative that provides some of the benefits of hallucinogenic substances while avoiding their associated risks.
“The increase in cognitive flexibility and creativity is particularly significant,” Riva says. “However, it is important to verify whether these effects are truly comparable, on a neurobiological level, to those produced by compounds such as psilocybin or LSD. The data collected, however, suggest that the path taken is promising and deserves further investigation.”
While immersive virtual reality is generally safer than psychedelic substances, it is not entirely risk-free. The researchers indicate that some users have reported experiencing cybersickness or motion sickness. Some side effects reported with the use of cyberdelics have included nausea, visual fatigue, and disorientation. For this reason, the team recommends that cyberdelic sessions take place in controlled settings under the supervision of trained facilitators or therapists.
The researchers view these findings as a first step toward integrating virtual reality into future therapeutic strategies. They plan to conduct additional clinical studies involving patients with a range of mental health conditions. By using physiological and neurobiological measures, these studies aim to better understand how cyberdelics work and to develop standardized protocols for their use in clinical and rehabilitation settings.
Promise and Precaution
Going forward, researchers will need to record precise physiological and neurobiological measurements to more clearly understand the mechanisms, effects, and durations of the alterations to the participants’ minds. From that data, researchers will then be able to develop standardized protocols for using cybernetic treatments in clinical and rehabilitative work.
While the team behind the work doesn’t see cyberdelics as a complete replacement for drugs, it does see the technology as a viable alternative to explore psychedelic experiences without users having to resort to recreational drugs, or for individuals with difficult-to-treat disorders seeking a substitute for psychedelics.
“Digital psychedelic experiences are not intended to replace drugs,” the researchers say. “But our aim is to exploit virtual reality and technologies to create a safe laboratory in which to explore altered states of consciousness and their therapeutic potential.
“At the same time, they offer a digital alternative for those seeking the possible benefits of psychedelic experiences without resorting to recreational substance use, and for those who do not respond to traditional treatments,” they conclude.
The paper, “Cyberdelics: Virtual Reality Hallucinations Modulate Cognitive-Affective Processes,” appeared in Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience on May 23, 2025.
Austin Burgess is a writer and researcher with a background in sales, marketing, and data analytics. He holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, along with a certification in Data Analytics. His work combines analytical training with a focus on emerging science, aerospace, and astronomical research.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.