Trial reportTranslational psychiatry2022
Microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.
Trial report in Translational psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 8 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
61 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Efficacy and Safety of Psychedelic Microdosing on Psychological Outcomes in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.CNS drugs · 2026Pooled it
- 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 Use of Psychedelics in the Treatment of Adult ADHD: A Systematic and Mechanistic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- The subtle science: a systematic review of psilocybin magic mushroom and truffle microdosing.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Acute effects of psilocybin on attention and executive functioning in healthy volunteers: a systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis.Psychopharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of psilocybin on cognitive function: A systematic review.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2024Pooled it
- Cognitive functioning associated with acute and subacute effects of classic psychedelics and MDMA - a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- In the new era of psychedelic assisted therapy: A systematic review of study methodology in randomized controlled trials.Psychopharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Safety and tolerability of multiple sublingual microdoses of 5-MeO-DMT in adults with moderate symptoms of depression and/or anxiety: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- Multimodal creativity assessments following acute and sustained microdosing of lysergic acid diethylamide.Psychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- Psilocybin-assisted neurofeedback for the improvement of executive functions: a randomized semi-naturalistic-lab feasibility study.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Trial
- Effects of a Functional Cone Mushroom (Nutrients · 2024Trial
- Inter-individual variability in neural response to low doses of LSD.Translational psychiatry · 2024Trial
- 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
- Greater subjective effects of a low dose of LSD in participants with depressed mood.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Trial
- Modulation of long-term potentiation following microdoses of LSD captured by thalamo-cortical modelling in a randomised, controlled trial.BMC neuroscience · 2024Trial
- The entropic brain today.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2026Review
- Prevalence and Reasons for Microdosing Cannabis, Psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA Among U.S. Adults.American journal of preventive medicine · 2026Article
- Psilocybin, From Ancestral Use to Therapeutic Potential: A Multidimensional Review of Its Pharmacological Basis and Current Perspectives.Human psychopharmacology · 2026Review
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The use of low sub-perceptual doses of psychedelics ("microdosing") has gained popularity in recent years. 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. 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. We recruited 34 individuals starting to microdose with psilocybin mushrooms (Psilocybe cubensis), one of the materials most frequently used for this purpose. 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. 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. These changes were accompanied by reduced EEG power in the theta band, together with preserved levels of Lempel-Ziv broadband signal complexity. For all other measurements there was no effect of microdosing except for few small changes towards cognitive impairment. 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. We conclude that expectation underlies at least some of the anecdotal benefits attributed to microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms.
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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.