Microevidence for microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms: a double-blind placebo-controlled study of subjective effects, behavior, creativity, perception, cognition, and brain activity

Abstract

The use of low sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics (“microdosing”) has gained popularity in recent years. Although anecdotal reports claim multiple benefits associated with this practice, the lack of placebo-controlled studies limits our knowledge of microdosing and its effects. Moreover, research conducted in laboratory settings might fail to capture the motivation of individuals engaged in microdosing protocols. We recruited 34 individuals planning to microdose with psilocybin mushrooms (Psilocybe cubensis), one of the materials most frequently used for this purpose. Following a double-blind placebo-controlled design, we investigated the effects of 0.5 g dried mushrooms on subjective experience, behavior, creativity, perception, cognition, and brain activity. The reported acute effects were significantly more intense for the active dose compared to the placebo, which could be explained by unblinding. For the other measurements, we observed either null effects or a trend towards cognitive impairment and, in the case of EEG, towards reduced theta band spectral power. Our findings support the possibility that expectation effects underlie at least some of the anecdotal benefits attributed to microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms.