![]() ![]() Microdosing is frequently undertaken to improve mood, cognitive function and mental concentration, as well as to enhance creativity and problem-solving skills, yet the effects of low doses of psilocybin or other serotonergic psychedelics have not been extensively investigated to date. The 2021 Global Drug Survey reported that 22% of those who used the most popular psychedelics in the last 12 months did so in the context of this practice (frequently known as “microdosing”), with ≈4% percentage in the total sample, and up to 17% according to an independent study. Over the last decade, the use of relatively small doses of psychedelics to enhance mental function has attracted a significant amount of interest from the general public and the scientific community. We conclude that expectation underlies at least some of the anecdotal benefits attributed to microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms. According to our findings, low doses of psilocybin mushrooms can result in noticeable subjective effects and altered EEG rhythms, but without evidence to support enhanced well-being, creativity and cognitive function. For all other measurements there was no effect of microdosing except for few small changes towards cognitive impairment. These changes were accompanied by reduced EEG power in the theta band, together with preserved levels of Lempel-Ziv broadband signal complexity. ![]() The reported acute effects were significantly more intense for the active dose compared to the placebo, but only for participants who correctly identified their experimental condition. ![]() Following a double-blind placebo-controlled experimental design, we investigated the acute and short-term effects of 0.5 g of dried mushrooms on subjective experience, behavior, creativity (divergent and convergent thinking), perception, cognition, and brain activity. We recruited 34 individuals starting to microdose with psilocybin mushrooms ( Psilocybe cubensis), one of the materials most frequently used for this purpose. Moreover, research conducted in standard laboratory settings could fail to capture the motivation of individuals engaged or planning to engage in microdosing protocols, thus underestimating the likelihood of positive effects on creativity and cognitive function. Although anecdotal reports claim multiple benefits associated with this practice, the lack of placebo-controlled studies severely limits our knowledge of microdosing and its effects. The use of low sub-perceptual doses of psychedelics (“microdosing”) has gained popularity in recent years. ![]()
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