Exploring the effect of microdosing psychedelics on creativity in an open-label natural setting

Summary & key facts

Researchers tested whether tiny doses of psychedelic truffles affect creative thinking in healthy adults. People took a microdose at a public event and did short tests before and while the drug was active. The tests measured two kinds of creativity—coming up with many ideas and finding a single best solution—and a separate test of general problem-solving. The study found that both kinds of creativity improved after taking the microdose, while general problem-solving did not change. The truffles were chemically checked, but the study was not blinded or placebo-controlled, so the results are only preliminary and need stronger tests to know if the drug really caused the changes.

Key facts:

• The study measured creativity before and during the effects of a microdose of psychedelic truffles given at a public microdosing event.
• Researchers chemically analyzed the truffles to identify the active psychedelic substances inside them.
• Two types of creative thinking were tested: divergent thinking, which is making many different ideas, and convergent thinking, which is finding one correct solution.
• Both divergent thinking and convergent thinking improved after people took a non-blinded microdose.
• A short test of fluid intelligence, which measures general problem-solving and pattern recognition, did not change after the microdose.
• Because the study was open-label and not placebo-controlled, participants knew they had taken a microdose and this makes it hard to be sure the drug itself caused the improvements.
• The authors say these results are preliminary and call for careful placebo-controlled studies to confirm whether microdosing truly changes creative thinking.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: receptors and promoting cognitive flexibility, crucial to creative thinking. Nevertheless, enhancing effects of microdosing remain anecdotal, and in the absence of quantitative research on microdosing psychedelics, it is impossible to draw definitive conclusions on that matter. Here, our main aim was to quantitatively explore the cognitive-enhancing potential of microdosing psychedelics in healthy adults. METHODS: During a microdosing event organized by the Dutch Psychedelic Society, we examined the effects of psychedelic truffles (which were later analyzed to quantify active psychedelic alkaloids) on two creativity-related problem-solving tasks: the Picture Concept Task assessing convergent thinking and the Alternative Uses Task assessing divergent thinking. A short version of the Ravens Progressive Matrices task assessed potential changes in fluid intelligence. We tested once before taking a microdose and once while the effects were expected to be manifested. RESULTS: We found that both convergent and divergent thinking performance was improved after a non-blinded microdose, whereas fluid intelligence was unaffected. CONCLUSION: While this study provides quantitative support for the cognitive-enhancing properties of microdosing psychedelics, future research has to confirm these preliminary findings in more rigorous placebo-controlled study designs. Based on these preliminary results, we speculate that psychedelics might affect cognitive metacontrol policies by optimizing the balance between cognitive persistence and flexibility. We hope this study will motivate future microdosing studies with more controlled designs to test this hypothesis.

Topics

Diverse academic research themes Pain Management and Placebo Effect Psychedelics and Drug Studies

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Cognition Cognitive flexibility Cognitive psychology Creativity Divergent thinking Economics Flexibility (engineering) Management Mathematics Medicine MicroDose Neuroscience Pharmacology Psychology Social psychology Statistics Task (project management)

Substances

Psilocybin