Daily self-assessment within a regimen of microdosing indicates enhanced psychological functioning on microdosing days relative to non-microdosing days.
Michelle St Pierre, Elena Argento, Jordyn Cates, Pamela Kryskow, Kalin Harvey, Paul Stamets, Eesmyal Santos-Brault, Sarah A. Paschall, Kim P. C. Kuypers, Joseph M. Rootman, Zach Walsh
Psychopharmacology October 11, 2025 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-025-06913-9 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1,435 |
| Population | Adults who microdose psychedelics, drawn from an international survey |
| Intervention | Microdosing |
| Topics | Microdosing Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Citizen science Mental health Psychedelics |
| Key findings | On microdosing days, participants reported significantly higher ratings of wellbeing, productivity, creativity, connectedness, contemplation, and focus compared to non-microdosing days. |
Abstract
Repeated self-administration of small doses of psychedelics, known as microdosing, has been associated with perceived improvements in psychological functioning. However, few studies have examined effects at the daily level. Drawing on data from a naturalistic, prospective, international survey of adults who microdose (N = 1435), we assessed self-reported within-person changes between microdosing days and non-microdosing days across six domains of psychological functioning. Using multi-level modeling, we identified higher (p <.001) ratings of Wellbeing (F(1,768) = 160.15), Productivity (F(1,917) = 108.69), Creativity (F(1,899) = 25.99), Connectedness (F(1,859) = 253.4), Contemplation (F(1,864) = 180.5), and Focus (F(1,846) = 191.72) on microdosing days compared to non-microdosing days. For the domain of Creativity, increased scores were more pronounced among respondents with a history of using larger doses of psychedelics (F(1,899) = 4.40, p = .04). Given the observational and exploratory nature of this study, these findings should be interpreted with caution; nonetheless, the prospective data provides valuable real-time insights while reducing recall bias.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on psilocybin and microdosing, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Might Microdosing Psychedelics Be Safe and Beneficial? An Initial Exploration. More than a thousand individuals from 59 countries | 2019 | Observational cohort | n = 1,000 |
| Psilocybin microdosers demonstrate greater observed improvements in mood and mental health at one month relative to non-microdosing controls Psilocybin microdosers and non-microdosing comparators | 2022 | Naturalistic observational study | n = 1,133 |
| Psychedelic Microdosing among Young Adults from Southern California Young adults 18-22 years old from Southern California | 2024 | Observational cohort | n = 2,396 |
| Characterizing Resting-State Brain Dynamics with Frequency-Resolved EEG Microstates: Parallel Analyses of Psilocybin Microdosing and Acute Inhaled DMT Resting-state EEG data from two publicly available datasets: psilocybin microdosing and... | 2026 | Observational study |