Microdosing psychedelics and its effect on creativity: Lessons learned from three double-blind placebo controlled longitudinal trials
This combined analysis (n=175) of three double-blind placebo-controlled longitudinal experiments investigated the effects of microdosing psilocybin (0.74 -; 1.71mg) on creativity and found that it increased the originality of their ideas while generating novel applications for ordinary things (divergent thinking). However, it did not increase the number of novel ideas, or their ability to detect features that are common across multiple things (convergent thinking).
Authors
- Michiel Van Elk
Published
Abstract
Background Taking very small doses of psychedelics (LSD, truffles) over an extended period became prevalent in western societies for its alleged cognitive benefit, including enhanced creativity. However, in the absence of robust, double-blind-controlled quantitative studies, such claims remain anecdotal.
Methods Here we present results from 3 double-blind placebo-controlled longitudinal trials (one of which pre-registered) assessing the effects of microdosing psilocybin on convergent and divergent creativity in a well-controlled semi-naturalistic setting. To enhance statistical power and generalizability, data from all trials (N = 171) were pooled in a mega-analysis, resulting in one of the most robust laboratory-based studies on microdosing to date.
Results We found that active microdosing increased the ratio of original responses (originality/fluency), indicating higher quality of divergent thinking in the active microdosing condition. The unadjusted originality score was significantly more pronounced in the active microdosing condition, but only when relative dosage (dose/weight of participants) was considered. Importantly, these effects survived controlling for dose guess and demographic biases. No effects of active microdosing were found for other divergent-thinking scores or convergent thinking.
Conclusion The results suggest that the effects of truffle mirodosing are limited to the quality of divergent thinking. Moreover, our findings highlight the importance of controlling for placebo effects and prior psychedelic experience in assessing the impact of microdosing.
Research Summary of 'Microdosing psychedelics and its effect on creativity: Lessons learned from three double-blind placebo controlled longitudinal trials'
Blossom's Take
Just like earlier research, microdosing shows a small effect on creativity. It's not uniform, showing only an increase in divergent thinking. Still, the double-blind nature of the study - with good ecological validity (people microdosing themselves) - provides rigour to this study.
Introduction
Prochazkova and colleagues frame creativity as a multi-faceted construct that includes at least two dissociable subprocesses: convergent thinking (deriving a single correct solution) and divergent thinking (generating many loosely associated ideas). Higher, fully psychedelic doses have been reported to induce hyper-associative cognition and altered perception, prompting the question whether lower, repeated ‘‘microdoses’’ of psychedelics (notably psilocybin-containing truffles) might selectively enhance aspects of creative cognition by acting on serotonergic 5-HT2A signalling linked to cognitive flexibility and associative learning. The paper sets out to address gaps in the microdosing literature—chiefly the predominance of open‑label surveys and small, underpowered trials—by reporting three double‑blind, placebo‑controlled longitudinal experiments conducted in semi‑naturalistic settings. The authors’ primary aim was to test whether microdosing psilocybin affects convergent and divergent thinking, using established tasks (Picture Concept Task variants and the Alternative Uses Task), while explicitly controlling for expectation/placebo effects, prior psychedelic experience and dose relative to body weight. A pooled (mega‑)analysis across the three trials was planned to increase power and examine dose‑response and moderating factors.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
- Journal
- Compounds
- Topics
- Author
- APA Citation
Prochazkova, L., Marschall, J., van Elk, M., Rifkin, B. D., Schon, N. R., Fiacchino, D., ... & Hommel, B. (2025). Microdosing psilocybin and its effect on creativity: Lessons learned from three double-blind placebo controlled longitudinal trials. Neuropharmacology, 110732.
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