Is psychedelic microdosing real or just placebo? | Latest scientific findings | Psychedelic science

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The concept of psychedelic microdosing has exploded in recent years - in the media and culture. in the surging psychedelic business industry, and in scientific research labs at a variety of institutions.
People claim that microdosing can improve things such as mood, well-being, attention, problem solving, and creativity, as well as reduce depression and anxiety symptoms.
But does the scientific research support the claims that are so commonly made?
How much of the effects can be attributed to positive expectations and the placebo response that these create?
Here I dive deep into the research to date exploring these questions.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction and sponsor shout-out
0:30 - What is psychedelic microdosing?
2:18 - What exactly is the placebo effect?
2:52 - Why are the effects of microdosing likely to be a result of the placebo effect?
3:52 - The two types of microdosing studies: observational studies versus double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trials
4:42 - Observational studies on microdosing
7:20 - Double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trials of microdosing
8:42 - The recent citizen science study on psychedelic microdosing: a placebo controlled observational study
11:46 - Conclusion
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The editing for this video was sponsored by EntheoTech Bioscience, a psychedelic bioscience company for which I am Chief Research Officer. Go check them out! www.entheotech.ca
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More info about me:
Manesh Girn is a Neuroscience PhD student at McGill University and has been lead or co-author on over a dozen scientific publications and book chapters on topics including psychedelics, meditation, daydreaming, and brain networks.
Manesh currently has ongoing collaborations with Robin Carhart-Harris and others at the Imperial College Center for Psychedelic Research and is investigating the brain changes underlying psilocybin, LSD, and DMT.
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[@prichardgs]

There you go-With healthy individuals. Combat vet here-PTSD, major depressive disorder, treatment resistant depression with mutiple TBI's I try anything at this point. Those people have no suffering to relive.

[@ArtemMindsurfer]

Happy to see ya here on KZbin after these month without videos! Welcome back

[@setundsetting]

Finally a video again 🎉 Thank you for this one, well researched and structured.

[@asparagoose8992]

Definitely interesting findings. Would be interested in seeing studies on how microdosing affects people who may be depressed, especially in a group that does not have experience with microdosing to see if that has any effects

[@ScienceofGettingHigh]

Great video! It's always amazing to see the power of the placebo effect.

[@art_noah]

Great video. Love the research

[@MrAndreaCaso]

Hey Manesh, I just wanted to drop by and say that your video is absolutely fantastic. I am really impressed by how concise, rigorous, comprehensive, and (extremely) nuanced your presentation is. You managed to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time, and your attention to detail really shines through. I wish you all the best.

[@ThePsychedelicScientist]

Very much appreciated! This was really nice to hear.

[@banehog]

Good video! Macrodosing changed my life (bipolar+adhd) for sure. Been microdosing for a year or so. Not really sure if there is an effect or not... If there is, it's pretty subtle. 🤔

[@robynvantreight5179]

Hey Banehogg, have you tried a micro stack with macuna puriens? Very supportive to the Adhd brain that lack dopamine

[@barabashkovaaa]

Hi Manesh, just found your channel while researching psychedelics and I’m truly amazed by your channel - it’s really interesting how you can explain some of really complex topics with such ease for no matter what audience. Thank you very much for such a gem of an educational content 🥹 I was wondering if maybe you had any insight or opinions about borderline personality disorder and lsd use (medical or/and recreational) - it’s something I’ve been really trying to look into since I’ve been diagnosed, but unfortunately I can’t find that much of studies/information on it (maybe I didn’t look for it well enough😅😅) thank you again and I hope you have a blessed day 😌😌❤️

[@AsherBrandt]

Manesh great video glad to see you back on youtube. Do you think it's possible that microdosing doesn't work because the concentration of drug inside the CNS is not high enough to even bind to serotonin 2a? Although the affinity of LSD is particularly greater than serotonin if there is a much higher concentration of serotonin this will negate the fact that LSD has greater binding affinity. I'm curious to hear some of the reasons why microdosing might not work from your perspective.

[@ArtemMindsurfer]

This topic is exactly what i was expecting to learn about! I was asking myself if it works or not and i hoped you will answer )

[@ghelfling_bunny]

It would be nice if you could make a comparison between near death experiences and psychedelic trips, focusing on the brain aspects.

[@jakubschimmelpfennig7358]

Are you going to make a video about the dynamic framework of thought? Please do it!

[@dianegordon5366]

Wow, I'm loving your talks! I wonder if your "very good day" comment is a sly reference to Ayelet Waldman's book about her experiment with microdosing. Taking a miniscule amount of a drug strikes me as one more form of the long debunked homeopathy. On the other hand, the placebo effect is powerful. Unlike the subjects in the microdosing studies, Waldman self reports a variety of psychiatric issues. Perhaps this is in part why microdosing worked for her?

[@onsightitify]

good conclusion!

[@joenicholss]

I APPRECIATE THE RECOMMENDATIONS I SAW HERE HE'S TRULY AS GOOD AS YOU'LL SAY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can reach out to this dude *myco.spor* on Instagram I ordered from . He sells psychedelics discreetly, hove Mushroom Embryos, shrooms, Dmt , Lsd and more 🍄💯 he could direct you also on how to microdos 🤩🍄💯

[@ryanmcalder1]

Manesh, thanks for another brilliant video. You've made a compelling case that existing studies of microdosing show little to no effect. My question: What do we know about "meso-dosing"? (Not sure if that's a common term.) If microdosing psilocybin, LSD, etc. likely has little to no effect on depression and neuroplasticity, but macrodosing does, then presumably there's some point at which the two meet. Is there any high-quality evidence about the effect of "meso-doses": that is, doses with noticeable immediate effects (i.e., a very mild trip), but not effects so strong that they prevent the user from being functional in society?

[@ThePsychedelicScientist]

This is a good question. People have undoubtedly experimented with it before. The thing here is that it's unclear what the upper bound of what counts as a microdose is. In my mind, it's around 200mg dried psilocybin mushrooms or 15 micrograms of LSD. But I know people who take 300-400mg mushrooms or over 20 mcg of LSD and still call it a microdose. And if we get into the .5g psilocybin or 50 mcg territory, it's pretty tough just to go about your day as usual - so that's not really feasible for most people. In any case, the actual doses used in non-clinical research studies so far are often around mesodose territory. But again, micro vs. meso vs. macro is not totally well-defined - but should be more and more as we move forward

[@martinfultz9894]

Yeah seems like the big thing here, is what dosage we are considering to be a microdose. Its my understanding that anything "sub perceptual" literally means it's doing nothing. Do we have any info on the dosages given out in the psilocybin studies? I'm not familiar with the lsd side to speak on it at all.

[@EntheoNation]

LOLz… I’ve been getting all kinds of micro samples in my Left Coast Psychedelic Road trip and they definitely have an affect 😁 The nootropic blends that are coming out are definitely much more interesting than straight up Psilocybin capsules Great video nonetheless, Manesh!

[@CedroneTravels]

I started back in July. Took me up until about a month ago to finally get it right. Every 3 days a small piece and getting good sleep

[@bridgetmay3474]

Great video! If it's a placebo or not, it's working. ha ha!

[@jessicakhurana1767]

Let’s continue to kick the microdosing bee hive. Can you make a video about the valve risks with daily use of a 2b agonist?

[@mimszanadunstedt441]

But that researcher also acknowledged the possibility that constant psychedelics may effect the 5ht2a receptor in the long term from frequent use and may possibly be detrimental after years of use.

[@ThePsychedelicScientist]

Important to recognizes that that's pure speculation on their part

[@deneb3552]

I think there's a lot of importance in what you've mentioned at the end of the video. The substance is there, it's on you what you make of it. I'm sure if you add a tiny substance to meditation and mindfulness you will get far better results than with placebo and living the same old routine of mindlessly falling through your days. Even just meditation alone will cause a significant improvement. I think these substances are far too powerful not to have any affect, even in tiny amounts. Like when they have higher body temp visualising fire. You may call it belief, I think it's more of an improvement on the ability to use your brain and body. These substances are like little boosts and I believe they do work but first you have to get to them and jump on them yourself. Some treasure is just hidden from lazy players. You gotta do the side quest to get that loot you know. That's what I believe anyway.

[@deneb3552]

@Stephanie Hughes well, good for you 😊 use it wisely

[@maureens7853]

I thought a standard dose of LSD was much higher than 15mcg? More like 400mcg?

[@madgenius1534]

Standard dose is 150mg. High dose around 220mg.

[@sterlgirlceline]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@robynvantreight5179]

So you contradicted yourself. Participants had a high expectation which means placebo is driving the positive results, but then you said that the high expectations for a particular task/sub group wasn't actually deemed a positive result. Having a positive outlook doesn't mean that placebo is driving the result fully, it means the subject is hopeful. Big difference.

[@mimszanadunstedt441]

Saw a video of a lead researcher having cognitive dissonance and arguing 'even if it is placebo it doesn't mean its not helping people'. I think he knows microdosing is full of shit but recognizes that it'll help the industry in the end so wants it to do well anyways. Also, scientists fear losing funding for real.

[@joenicholss]

I APPRECIATE THE RECOMMENDATIONS I SAW HERE HE'S TRULY AS GOOD AS YOU'LL SAY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can reach out to this dude *myco.spor* on Instagram I ordered from . He sells psychedelics discreetly, hove Mushroom Embryos, shrooms, Dmt , Lsd and more 🍄💯 he could direct you also on how to microdosing 🍄🍄

[@ThePsychedelicScientist]

He makes a good point. Whether it's better than placebo is only really relevant to scientists and clinicians. To the layperson who is using it, if it works, it works. For them, the ability for a rigorous placebo-controlled trial to prove efficacy is less important than their personal experience. There's nothing wrong with that provided the drug is safe

[@ArtemMindsurfer]

Can you please send me a photo of your books if i write an email here?

[@infowarriorone]

If microdosing gives a placebo effect then sugar pills can treat depression.

[@elowindcoaching]

Isn't it what psychedelics are about? Empowering Consciousness...

[@ThePsychedelicScientist]

Sure that's one way to look at it - psychedelics may largely be 'placebo amplifiers'. Which, in other words, means they may work by enhancing the mind's ability to influence one's physiology/biology.

[@usmc8408]

I'm no scientist or data dude but in my opinion there is a big flaw (amongst many more I assume) in this type of study, probably due to the legal issues. There doesn't seem to be a standard on what the dosage should be before ACTUAL microdose effects should kick in. If my body needs let's say 200mg for it to kick in but you give me 100mg and I say I feel something, it's not truly a placebo effect. The drug WILL work, just at a higher dosage. If drug ABC is known not to work and you give it to me, it doesn't matter if it's 100mg or 1000mg, whatever I feel is a placebo effect. Psilocybin is proven to work, so wouldn't it be more of a dosage issue? I hope this makes sense.

[@aetheriusrex]

Terrible study done on the majority of people who were already self described micro-dosers prior to the study whic could lead to diminishing results as well as most people in the study did not have any clinical anxiety or depression so results would be further diminished.