Trial reportJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2021
A low dose of lysergic acid diethylamide decreases pain perception in healthy volunteers.
Trial report in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 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
46 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and Safety of Psychedelic Microdosing on Psychological Outcomes in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.CNS drugs · 2026Pooled it
- Keeping the promise: a critique of the current state of microdosing research.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Neural complexity is increased after low doses of LSD, but not moderate to high doses of oral THC or methamphetamine.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Trial
- LSD increases sleep duration the night after microdosing.Translational psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide Microdoses in Healthy Participants.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2021Trial
- Prevalence and Reasons for Microdosing Cannabis, Psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA Among U.S. Adults.American journal of preventive medicine · 2026Article
- Classic Psychedelics for Treating Chronic Pain: Mechanism and Clinical Translation.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Psychedelic Therapies for Comorbid Major Depressive Disorder and Chronic Pain: A Review of Putative Mechanisms of Action.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2026Review
- Opioid Receptors in Psychedelia: Indirect Serotonergic Modulation of Direct KOR Activation by Salvinorin A.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- No evidence of immediate or persistent analgesic effect from a single dose of psilocybin in three mouse models of pain.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Psilocybin as a psychophysical adaptogen in chronic pain rehabilitation.The journal of pain · 2025Article
- Psilocybin has no immediate or persistent analgesic effect in acute and chronic mouse pain models.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Classic Psychedelics in Pain Modulation: Mechanisms, Clinical Evidence, and Future Perspectives.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2025Review
- IUPHAR Article: Psilocybin induces long-lasting effects via 5-HTPharmacological research · 2025Article
- Clinical Research on Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in Psychiatry and Neuroscience.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Is there a place for psychedelics in sports practice?Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2025Review
- Novel psychedelic interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder and their promise for precision medicine.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2025Review
- From taboo to treatment: The emergence of psychedelics in the management of pain and opioid use disorder.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2024Review
- Is microdosing a placebo? A rapid review of low-dose LSD and psilocybin research.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Review
- Alcohol Use Disorder and Chronic Pain: An Overlooked Epidemic.The American journal of psychiatry · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is an ergot alkaloid derivative with psychedelic properties that has been implicated in the management of persistent pain. Clinical studies in the 1960s and 1970s have demonstrated profound analgesic effects of full doses of LSD in terminally ill patients, but this line of research evaporated after LSD was scheduled worldwide.
aimThe present clinical study is the first to revisit the potential of LSD as an analgesic, and at dose levels which are not expected to produce profound mind-altering effects.
methodsTwenty-four healthy volunteers received single doses of 5, 10 and 20 µg LSD as well as placebo on separate occasions. A Cold Pressor Test was administered at 1.5 and 5 h after treatment administration to assess pain tolerance to experimentally evoked pain. Ratings of dissociation and psychiatric symptoms as well as assessments of vital signs were included to monitor mental status as well as safety during treatments.
resultsLSD 20 µg significantly increased the time that participants were able to tolerate exposure to cold (3°C) water and decreased their subjective levels of experienced pain and unpleasantness. LSD elevated mean blood pressure within the normal range and slightly increased ratings of dissociation, anxiety and somatization.
conclusionThe present study provides evidence of a protracted analgesic effect of LSD at a dose that is low enough to avoid a psychedelic experience. The present data warrant further research into the analgesic effects of low doses of LSD in patient populations.
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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.