Trial reportPsychopharmacology2020
Tripping on nothing: placebo psychedelics and contextual factors.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 146 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of LSD, DMT and psilocybin on cognitive and psychological functions: A systematic review of the literature.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Pooled it
- The Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) Task Force Report: Serotonergic Psychedelic Treatments for Major Depressive Disorder.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2023Pooled it
- Enhanced visual contrast suppression during peak psilocybin effects: Psychophysical results from a pilot randomized controlled trial.Journal of vision · 2024Trial
- Presenting a sham treatment as personalised increases the placebo effect in a randomised controlled trial.eLife · 2023Trial
- Microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.Translational psychiatry · 2022Trial
- The effect of esketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression with and without comorbid anxiety symptoms or disorder.Depression and anxiety · 2021Trial
- Development of a Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Model of Psilocybin/Psilocin from Psilocybe cubensis (Magic Mushroom) in Treatment-Resistant Depression.European journal of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics · 2026Article
- Addressing demand artifacts in psychological research (and beyond).Behavior research methods · 2026Review
- Psilocybin in Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Seeking Valuable Evidence in History, Pure Science, Clinical Trials and Real-World Data (RWD).Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Ayahuasca and Its Main ComponentBiomedicines · 2026Review
- Longitudinal neural and psychological changes following psilocybin under compassion imagery priming.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Abuse potential assessment of novel central nervous system active and psychedelic substances for controlled substances act scheduling recommendations.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Practitioner perspectives on extended difficulties and optimal support strategies following psychedelic experiences: a qualitative analysis.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Concomitant use of antidepressants and classic psychedelics: A scoping review.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- What are set and setting: Reducing vagueness to improve research and clinical practice.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- The Ethics of Set and Setting in Psychedelic Psychotherapy.Neuroethics · 2025Article
- 5-MeO-DMT: An atypical psychedelic with unique pharmacology, phenomenology & risk?Psychopharmacology · 2025Review
- The Psychedelic Renaissance: A Catholic Perspective.The Linacre quarterly · 2025Article
- What should constitute a control condition in psychedelic drug trials?Nature. Mental health · 2024Article
- Co-administration of midazolam and psilocybin: differential effects on subjective quality versus memory of the psychedelic experience.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleIs it possible to have a psychedelic experience from a placebo alone? Most psychedelic studies find few effects in the placebo control group, yet these effects may have been obscured by the study design, setting, or analysis decisions.
objectiveWe examined individual variation in placebo effects in a naturalistic environment resembling a typical psychedelic party.
methodsThirty-three students completed a single-arm study ostensibly examining how a psychedelic drug affects creativity. The 4-h study took place in a group setting with music, paintings, coloured lights, and visual projections. Participants consumed a placebo that we described as a drug resembling psilocybin, which is found in psychedelic mushrooms. To boost expectations, confederates subtly acted out the stated effects of the drug and participants were led to believe that there was no placebo control group. The participants later completed the 5-Dimensional Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale, which measures changes in conscious experience.
resultsThere was considerable individual variation in the placebo effects; many participants reported no changes while others showed effects with magnitudes typically associated with moderate or high doses of psilocybin. In addition, the majority (61%) of participants verbally reported some effect of the drug. Several stated that they saw the paintings on the walls "move" or "reshape" themselves, others felt "heavy… as if gravity [had] a stronger hold", and one had a "come down" before another "wave" hit her.
conclusionUnderstanding how context and expectations promote psychedelic-like effects, even without the drug, will help researchers to isolate drug effects and clinicians to maximise their therapeutic potential.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.