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AI-generated virtual psychedelics bridge digital and therapeutic frontiers in mental health research

Nature Mental Health volume 4, pages 183–185 (2026)Cite this article

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Psychedelic-assisted therapy shows promise for mental health treatment but faces regulatory, methodological and safety challenges. In this Comment, we propose using artificial intelligence and virtual reality to simulate similar experiences to those produced by traditional psychedelic compounds for use in psychedelic-assisted therapy modalities.

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Fig. 1: Example of VR-based psychedelic simulation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the research project “Arcadia VR—Assistenza e Riabilitazione del Comportamento Alimentare tramite Dispositivi basati sull’Intelligenza Artificiale e Realtà Virtuale” (Arcadia VR—Assistance and Rehabilitation of Eating Behaviour through Artificial Intelligence-based Devices and Virtual Reality)—MISE (prog. N.ro F/310025/01–05/X56), Fondo crescita sostenibile—Accordi per l’Innovazione, a.i. sensi del Decreto Ministeriale del 31 Dicembre 2021 e del successivo DD 721 del 18 Marzo 2022, N. Pos. 25.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Humane Technology Lab., Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy

    Giuseppe Riva & Giulia Brizzi

  2. Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab., Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Milan, Italy

    Giuseppe Riva & Giulia Brizzi

  3. Department of Neural Dynamics and Magnetoencephalography, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Clara Rastelli & Antonino Greco

  4. Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Clara Rastelli & Antonino Greco

  5. MEG Center, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Clara Rastelli & Antonino Greco

  6. Center for Bionic Intelligence Tübingen Stuttgart (BITS), Tübingen, Germany

    Clara Rastelli & Antonino Greco

Authors
  1. Giuseppe Riva
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  2. Giulia Brizzi
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  3. Clara Rastelli
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  4. Antonino Greco
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Correspondence to Giuseppe Riva or Antonino Greco.

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Riva, G., Brizzi, G., Rastelli, C. et al. AI-generated virtual psychedelics bridge digital and therapeutic frontiers in mental health research. Nat. Mental Health 4, 183–185 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00576-3

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