Review

.2019 Sep;33(9):1039-1057.

doi: 10.1177/0269881119857204. Epub 2019 Jul 14.

Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research

Kim Pc Kuypers¹, Livia Ng², David Erritzoe³, Gitte M Knudsen⁴, Charles D Nichols⁵, David E Nichols⁶, Luca Pani^{7 8}, Anaïs Soula⁹, David Nutt¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
² Department of Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
³ Department of Psychology, Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁴ Neurobiology Research Unit, Rigshospitalet and University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁵ Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.
⁶ Purdue University College of Pharmacy, West Lafayette, LA, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Psychiatry University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
⁸ Department of Biomedical, Metabolic & Neural Sciences, University of Modena, Modena, Italy.
⁹ COMPASS Pathways, London, UK.
¹⁰ Neuropsychopharmacology, Imperial College London, London, UK.

PMID:31303095
PMCID: PMC6732823
DOI: 10.1177/0269881119857204

Review

Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research

Kim Pc Kuypers et al. J Psychopharmacol.2019 Sep.

.2019 Sep;33(9):1039-1057.

doi: 10.1177/0269881119857204. Epub 2019 Jul 14.

Authors

Kim Pc Kuypers¹, Livia Ng², David Erritzoe³, Gitte M Knudsen⁴, Charles D Nichols⁵, David E Nichols⁶, Luca Pani^{7 8}, Anaïs Soula⁹, David Nutt¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
² Department of Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
³ Department of Psychology, Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁴ Neurobiology Research Unit, Rigshospitalet and University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁵ Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.
⁶ Purdue University College of Pharmacy, West Lafayette, LA, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Psychiatry University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
⁸ Department of Biomedical, Metabolic & Neural Sciences, University of Modena, Modena, Italy.
⁹ COMPASS Pathways, London, UK.
¹⁰ Neuropsychopharmacology, Imperial College London, London, UK.

PMID:31303095
PMCID: PMC6732823
DOI: 10.1177/0269881119857204

Abstract

Background: In the past few years, the issue of 'microdosing' psychedelics has been openly discussed in the public arena where claims have been made about their positive effect on mood state and cognitive processes such as concentration. However, there are very few scientific studies that have specifically addressed this issue, and there is no agreed scientific consensus on what microdosing is.

Aim: This critique paper is designed to address questions that need to be answered by future scientific studies and to offer guidelines for these studies.

Approach: Owing to its proximity for a possible approval in clinical use and short-lasting pharmacokinetics, our focus is predominantly on psilocybin. Psilocybin is allegedly, next to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), one of the two most frequently used psychedelics to microdose. Where relevant and available, data for other psychedelic drugs are also mentioned.

Conclusion: It is concluded that while most anecdotal reports focus on the positive experiences with microdosing, future research should also focus on potential risks of (multiple) administrations of a psychedelic in low doses. To that end, (pre)clinical studies including biological (e.g. heart rate, receptor turnover and occupancy) as well as cognitive (e.g. memory, attention) parameters have to be conducted and will shed light on the potential negative consequences microdosing could have.

Keywords: Psychedelics; microdosing; psychoactive substances.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interest: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: David Nutt is a scientific adviser and Luca Pani is a consultant for COMPASSPathways. The other authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1.**
The structure of (a) psilocybin and (b) psilocin.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research

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Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research

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