Microdosing Psychedelics

We are currently recruiting participants for the MicroDep Trial, which is exploring the potential of low doses of psilocybin to treat moderate depression. Click through for more information.

Microdosing, i.e., regularly taking very small doses of psychedelic substances has become a popular trend. This review summarises the current state of microdosing science.

Our team also conducted one of the first longitudinal studies of microdosing. We investigated the short and long term effects of microdosing on wellbeing, cognition and agency. We were particularly interested in the role of belief and expectation in shaping participants microdosing experiences.

We found that microdosers reported mainly positive effects but that these were more subtle than typical media accounts of microdosing.

• Participants reported a general positive boost on microdosing days but effects were (mostly) not sustained on subsequent days.

• Longer term, microdosing led to improved mental health, altered attentional capacities (reduced mind wandering and increased absorption), but also to increased neuroticism.

• Participants did have strong expectations regarding effects of microdosing, but these did not match actual changes.