Sociological investigations of human enhancement drugs: The case of microdosing psychedelics

Abstract

Microdosing psychedelics is the regular use of sub-perceptive threshold doses of substances such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin ('magic') mushrooms. The phenomenon has attracted increasing public and scientific attention in numerous countries in recent years. This commentary looks at microdosing psychedelics as an emerging facet of human enhancement through drugs. After presenting a narrative based on a multidisciplinary body of literature on human enhancement drugs and microdosing, the commentary maps out directions for further sociological studies of the phenomenon as well as outlining the different fields such research can contribute to.

In the evidence

This study is part of the evidence base for a synthesis in the library. Here is how each one recorded it.

• State of the evidence: LSD and microdosing ?Unclear

  Argues that microdosing psychedelics represents an emerging facet of human enhancement through drugs and maps directions for sociological study.

  Synthesized October 22, 2026