ArticlePsychopharmacology2020
Subjective features of the psilocybin experience that may account for its self-administration by humans: a double-blind comparison of psilocybin and dextromethorphan.
Article in Psychopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 4 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dextromethorphan Beyond the Cough: Exploring Its Psychedelic Potential: A Systematic Review.CNS drugs · 2026Pooled it
- Therapeutic Use of Psilocybin in Depression: a Systematic Review of Clinical Evidence.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2025Pooled it
- A Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)-Guided Dashboard to Review Psilocybin Target Domains: A Systematic Review.CNS drugs · 2022Pooled it
- Focus on Over-the-Counter Drugs' Misuse: A Systematic Review on Antihistamines, Cough Medicines, and Decongestants.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Efficacy and safety of psilocybin-assisted treatment for major depressive disorder: Prospective 12-month follow-up.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2022Trial
- Psychedelic Therapy and the Role of Music: A Scoping Review of Quantitative Evidence on Subjective and Objective Outcomes.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Roland R. Griffiths, psychopharmacology pioneer: Abuse liability, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, benzodiazepines, and psychedelics.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Review
- Abuse potential assessment of novel central nervous system active and psychedelic substances for controlled substances act scheduling recommendations.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- The Hallucinogen Rating Scale: Updated Factor Structure in a Large, Multistudy Sample.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Perceived changes in mental health and social engagement attributed to a single psychedelic experience in autistic adults: results from an online survey.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- An Integrated theory of false insights and beliefs under psychedelics.Communications psychology · 2024Review
- A Systematic Review of Study Design and Placebo Controls in Psychedelic Research.Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2024Review
- Double-Blind Comparison of the Two Hallucinogens Dextromethorphan and Psilocybin: Experience-Dependent and Enduring Psychological Effects in Healthy Volunteers.Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2023Article
- Are psychedelic medicines the reset for chronic pain? Preliminary findings and research needs.Neuropharmacology · 2023Review
- Predicting the Intensity of Psychedelic-Induced Mystical and Challenging Experience in a Healthy Population: An Exploratory Post-Hoc Analysis.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2023Article
- Structure-Activity Relationships for Psilocybin, Baeocystin, Aeruginascin, and Related Analogues to Produce Pharmacological Effects in Mice.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2022Article
- Validation of the Psychological Insight Scale: A new scale to assess psychological insight following a psychedelic experience.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- Music programming for psilocybin-assisted therapy: Guided Imagery and Music-informed perspectives.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- The Therapeutic Potential of Psilocybin.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleAlthough both psilocybin and dextromethorphan (DXM) produce psychedelic-like subjective effects, rates of non-medical use of psilocybin are consistently greater than DXM.
objectiveNew data are presented from a study of psilocybin and DXM relevant to understanding the features of psilocybin subjective effects that may account for its higher rates of non-medical use.
methodsSingle, acute oral doses of psilocybin (10, 20, 30 mg/70 kg), DXM (400 mg/70 kg), and placebo were administered under double-blind conditions to 20 healthy participants with histories of hallucinogen use.
resultsHigh doses of both drugs produced similar time courses and increases in participant ratings of peak overall drug effect strength. Nine subjective effect domains are proposed to be related to the reinforcing effects of psilocybin: liking, visual effects, positive mood, insight, positive social effects, increased awareness of beauty (both visual and music), awe/amazement, meaningfulness, and mystical experience. For most ratings, (1) psilocybin and DXM both produced effects significantly greater than placebo; (2) psilocybin showed dose-related increases; 3, DXM was never significantly higher than psilocybin; (4) the two highest psilocybin doses were significantly greater than DXM. These differences were consistent with two measures of desire to take the drug condition again.
conclusionsThis analysis provides new information about domains of psilocybin subjective effects proposed to be related to its reinforcing effects (alternatively described as the "motivation" to use). Observed differences on these domains between psilocybin and DXM are consistent with the relative rates of non-medical use of psilocybin and DXM.
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.