In healthy adults, microdosing of LSD produced transient effects on mood
The Brown University Psychopharmacology Update July 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1002/pu.31033 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Healthy adult men |
| Duration | 6-week intervention |
| Topics | LSD Microdosing |
| Key findings | Microdosing LSD over six weeks improved mood on dose days but produced no longer-term improvements in mood or cognition. |
Abstract
A randomized trial involving healthy adult men has found that microdosing of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) over a 6‐week period resulted in improved effects on mood during dose days. No longer‐term improvements in mood or cognition were reported. Study results were published online March 28, 2023, in Biological Psychiatry.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on LSD and microdosing, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary Report on the Effects of a Low Dose of LSD on Resting-State Amygdala Functional Connectivity. Healthy young adults, 18 to 35 years old | 2019 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 20 |
| Acute Mood-Elevating Properties of Microdosed Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in Healthy Volunteers: A Home-Administered Randomized Controlled Trial. Healthy male volunteers | 2023 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 80 |
| Low doses of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) increase reward-related brain activity. Healthy adults | 2023 | Within-subject, double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment | n = 18 |
| Greater subjective effects of a low dose of LSD in participants with depressed mood. Adults with mild depressed mood (scoring high or low on the Beck Depression-II inventory) | 2024 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 39 |
| Inter-individual variability in neural response to low doses of LSD. Healthy participants | 2024 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 53 |