Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Data Science Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Elife. 2021 Mar 2;10:e62878. doi: 10.7554/eLife.62878.
Microdosing is the practice of regularly using low doses of psychedelic drugs. Anecdotal reports suggest that microdosing enhances well-being and cognition; however, such accounts are potentially biased by the placebo effect. This study used a 'self-blinding' citizen science initiative, where participants were given online instructions on how to incorporate placebo control into their microdosing routine without clinical supervision. The study was completed by 191 participants, making it the largest placebo-controlled trial on psychedelics to-date. All psychological outcomes improved significantly from baseline to after the 4 weeks long dose period for the microdose group; however, the placebo group also improved and no significant between-groups differences were observed. Acute (emotional state, drug intensity, mood, energy, and creativity) and post-acute (anxiety) scales showed small, but significant microdose vs. placebo differences; however, these results can be explained by participants breaking blind. The findings suggest that anecdotal benefits of microdosing can be explained by the placebo effect.
微量给药是指定期使用低剂量迷幻药物的做法。传闻报告表明，微量给药可以增强幸福感和认知能力；然而，这种说法可能受到安慰剂效应的影响。本研究采用了“自我蒙蔽”的公民科学倡议，参与者在线接受了关于如何在没有临床监督的情况下将安慰剂对照纳入他们的微量给药常规的指导。该研究由 191 名参与者完成，是迄今为止最大的迷幻药物安慰剂对照试验。微量给药组从基线到 4 周长的剂量期后，所有心理结果都显著改善；然而，安慰剂组也有所改善，且未观察到组间有显著差异。急性（情绪状态、药物强度、情绪、能量和创造力）和急性后（焦虑）量表显示出微小但显著的微量给药与安慰剂差异；然而，这些结果可以通过参与者打破盲法来解释。研究结果表明，微量给药的传闻益处可以用安慰剂效应来解释。
