Multimodal creativity assessments following acute and sustained microdosing of lysergic acid diethylamide

Summary & key facts

Researchers gave 80 healthy men very low doses of LSD (10 micrograms) every third day for six weeks and measured creativity at the start, during a first dose, and after the six weeks. People said they felt more creative on dose days, but the standard creativity tests did not show any immediate or lasting improvement. The authors say this could be because lab tests miss real-life creativity, the tests do not cover the kind of creativity people notice, or the reported boost is a placebo effect.

Key facts:

• Eighty healthy adult men took part in a randomized trial of microdosing with LSD.
• Participants received 10 micrograms of LSD or a placebo every third day for six weeks, for a total of 14 doses.
• Creativity was measured three times: at a drug-free baseline, during the first acute dose, and after the six-week course when drug-free again.
• Researchers used four widely used measures of creativity: the Alternate Uses Test, the Remote Associates Task, the Consensual Assessment Technique, and an Everyday Problem-Solving Questionnaire.
• Objective scores on all four creativity measures showed no effect of the drug either acutely (during a dose) or after the six-week regimen.
• Despite the lack of objective change, participants reported feeling more creative on days when they had taken a dose.
• People with stronger vocabulary skills tended to score higher on the Alternate Uses Test and the Remote Associates Task.
• The authors suggest three possible reasons for the null result: laboratory tests may not capture natural creative behaviors, available tests may miss the kinds of creativity people say improves, or reported boosts may be placebo effects rather than real drug effects.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Enhanced creativity is often cited as an effect of microdosing (taking repeated low doses of a psychedelic drug). There have been recent efforts to validate the reported effects of microdosing, however creativity remains a difficult construct to quantify. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to assess microdosing's effects on creativity using a multimodal battery of tests as part of a randomised controlled trial of microdosing lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). METHODS: Eighty healthy adult males were given 10 µg doses of LSD or placebo every third day for six weeks (14 total doses). Creativity tasks were administered at a drug-free baseline session, at a first dosing session during the acute phase of the drug's effects, and in a drug-free final session following the six-week microdosing regimen. Creativity tasks were the Alternate Uses Test (AUT), Remote Associates Task (RAT), Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT), and an Everyday Problem-Solving Questionnaire (EPSQ). RESULTS: No effect of drug by time was found on the AUT, RAT, CAT, or EPSQ. Baseline vocabulary skill had a significant effect on AUT and RAT scores. CONCLUSIONS: Despite participants reporting feeling more creative on dose days, objective measurement found no acute or durable effects of the microdosing protocol on creativity. Possible explanations of these null findings are that laboratory testing conditions may negatively affect ability to detect naturalistic differences in creative performance, the tests available do not capture the facets of creativity that are anecdotally affected by microdosing, or that reported enhancements of creativity are placebo effects.

Topics

Pain Management and Placebo Effect Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs Psychedelics and Drug Studies

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Alternative medicine Creativity Internal medicine Lysergic acid diethylamide Medicine Pathology Pharmacology Placebo Psychology Randomized controlled trial Receptor Serotonin Social psychology

Substances

LSD