Samuli Kangaslampi - Can you really remember your birth on LSD? @BreakingConvention

Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

Can you really remember your birth on LSD? Memory experiences under psychedelics

Psychedelics have repeatedly been claimed to provide unique access to our earliest, avoided, or forgotten memories and allow for intense reliving and processing of such memories. Here, I explore and discuss the often astonishing claims of psychedelics enhancing memory, especially from early LSD research. I then present six crucial open questions on how psychedelics affect memory, ideas on how we should study them, and my own on-going research to do so. Finally, I report novel findings from a longitudinal online study on memory experiences under psychedelics and their relevance for therapeutic effects.

Bio:

Samuli Kangaslampi, PhD, is a University Lecturer in clinical psychology at Tampere University, Finland. He is also Chairperson of the Finnish Psychotrauma Society and Vice Chairperson of the Finnish Association for Psychedelic Research. Apart from psychedelics, he studies autobiographical memory, as well as trauma and PTSD.

Samuli Kangaslampi - Can you really remember your birth on LSD?

Joelle Adams & Dan Moore - Integrating Exceptional Experiences: Psychedelics, NDEs & Lucid Dreaming

Joost Breeksema - Letting go: Patient experiences on control and care in ketamine for depression

Shannon Dames & Phil Dames - Group-Administered Psychedelic Therapy

Anya Ermakova - Naturally-occurring 5-MeO-DMT: a review of plants, animals and fungi

$Jorel McQueen - Sacred Medicine through a Māori Lens This talk introduces a Māori‑led exploration of how traditional healing and ceremony can shape safe, culturally grounded psychedelic therapy in Aotearoa, New Zealand. We’ll examine how colonisation and deliberate legislation outlawed indigenous healers and fractured our rongoā (natural medicine) practices. Let’s take an immersive journey into Te Āo Māori (the Māori World) and discuss how our relationship with the natural world, esoteric knowledge systems and ancient pūrākau (storytelling) are informing models of care. I’ll be drawing on some insights from our recent national gathering, emerging Māori‑led initiatives and we’ll highlight the importance of indigenous sovereignty with healing and a path to genuine Māori–non‑Māori partnership in the psychedelic space. Bio: Jor’el McQueen is a Māori practitioner from Aotearoa New Zealand. dedicated to reviving indigenous healing rituals, rites of passage, and holistic well-being. He weaves Mātauranga Māori (knowledge), pūrākau(storytelling), and universal laws to guide transformation, blending ancestral wisdom with mindfulness, esoteric knowledge and modern approaches. Jor’el shares indigenous perspectives on psychedelics, consciousness, and ceremony as tools for deep healing. His mahi reconnects people to cultural roots, resilience, and spiritual evolution in navigating modern challenges.$

Jerónimo Mazarrasa - What comes after the Psychedelic Renaissance? A vision for the future

Yvan Beaussant - Acceptability of psilocybin-assisted group therapy for cancer-related depression

Natasja Pelgrom - Journeying with 5-MeO-DMT and Space Holding: Navigating Profound Experiences...

Tehseen Noorani - Reflections on Community Strategising about Psychedelic Therapy in Aotearoa

Patricia Pisters - Circles, Triangles and Squares: Psychedelics at the Limits of Perception

Tobias Buchborn - Research on the thalamocortical filter hypothesis of psychedelic drug action