Microdosing Study
Microdosing refers to the regular use of psychedelic drugs, such as LSD or magic mushrooms at sub-hallucinogenic doses. In recent years a considerable number of experience reports have emerged that claim microdosing can improve psychological well-being and cognitive functioning. However, research using rigorous methods was not able to validate those anecdotal findings.
Imperial College's Centre for Psychedelic Research launched this novel self-blinding study in people who planned to to help with a depression, anxiety, or mood problem.
This study uniquely allowed self-experimenters to implement their own placebo control - they did not know whether their daily capsule was a placebo or a microdose at the time of taking. This 'self-blinding' helps investigate whether microdosers feel benefits due to the placebo effect or the pharmacological action of microdosing.
There were two options for participating in this study: participants in the greater London area were able to participate in an in-person trial, which conducted EEG and cognitive tasks, while people outside of London were able to participate in an online version of the study.
The study was not intended to encourage microdosing and the study team is not providing psychedelics.
Recruitment for this study is now closed, for general enquiries please contact our email: microdosing@imperial.ac.uk.
