Microdosing psychedelics and its effect on creativity: Lessons learned from three double-blind placebo controlled longitudinal trials
Luisa Prochazkova, Michiel van Elk, Josephine Marschall, Ben David Rifkin, George Fejer, Neil Schoen, Donatella Fiacchino, Martin Kuchař, Bernhard Hommel
June 14, 2021 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/emcxw (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Double-blind placebo-controlled longitudinal trial (mega-analysis of three trials) Preregistered |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 175 |
| Population | Participants in semi-naturalistic microdosing trials |
| Intervention | psychedelic truffles |
| Topics | Psilocybin Microdosing |
| Keywords | Originality Creativity Divergent thinking Cognition Mood Fluency Placebo Cognitive psychology |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key findings | Active microdosing increased the ratio of original responses to total responses on a divergent thinking task, but did not affect convergent thinking or other divergent-thinking scores. |
Abstract
Introduction: Microdosing refers to the repetitive administration of tiny doses of psychedelics (LSD, Psilocybin) over an extended period of time. This practice has been linked to alleged cognitive benefits, such as improved mood and creativity, potentiated by targeting serotonergic 5-HT2A receptors and facilitating cognitive flexibility. Nonetheless, in the absence of robust, quantitative and double-blind research on the effect of microdosing, such claims remain anecdotal.Methods: Here, our main aim was to quantitatively explore the effect of microdosing psychedelic truffles on two creativity tasks assumed to rely on separable processes: the Picture Concept Task assessing convergent thinking and the Alternative Uses Task assessing divergent thinking. We present results from 3 double-blind placebo-controlled longitudinal trials (of which one was pre-registered) conducted in a semi-naturalistic setting. Furthermore, we controlled for expectation and learning biases, and the data were mega-analyzed across trials with a pooled sample of 175 participants in order to maximize statistical power.Results: In the final analyses we found that active microdosing increased the ratio of original responses (originality/fluency), indicating higher quality of divergent answers in the active microdosing condition. The unadjusted originality score was significantly more pronounced in the active microdosing condition, but only when relative dosage (dose/weight of participants) was considered. These effects were present after controlling for expectation and demographic biases. No effects of active microdosing were found for convergent thinking or any other divergent-thinking score. The results suggest that the effects of truffle mirodosing are limited to divergent quality and are more subtle than initially anticipated. Our findings furthermore highlighted the importance of controlling for expectation biases, placebo effects, and prior psychedelic experience in microdosing practice and research.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on psilocybin and microdosing, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Psilocybin microdosing does not affect emotion-related symptoms and processing: A preregistered field and lab-based study Journal of Psychopharmacology December 17, 2021
- Psychedelics as potential catalysts of scientific creativity and insight Drug Science, Policy and Law 2022
- Set and setting in microdosing: an oft-overlooked principle. Psychopharmacology December 1, 2022
- Unlocking the self: Can microdosing psychedelics make one feel more authentic? Nordisk alkohol- & narkotikatidskrift : NAT April 1, 2024
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