Twice a month, our friends from Blossom will update you on the latest in psychedelic research. Enjoy an in-depth look at major studies and updates on recent psychedelic publications.
Microdosing for ADHD symptoms
There is a shortage of ADHD medication. The FDA has recently announced that the combination of increasing demand and trouble at the producer means that some may not be able to get their prescribed Adderall. But is there a better way to help treat ADHD symptoms?
That is what a prospective survey on microdosing psychedelics for ADHD has tried to find out. A prospective survey means that just over 200 people signed up for the study before they started microdosing and completed questionnaires before and during.
The study was done at home, and participants self-reported information on ADHD symptoms and well-being. Four out of five participants used psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms, to microdose. The others used LSD or LSD analogs and one participant microdosed with ayahuasca.
Two weeks after starting microdosing, participants reported lower ADHD symptoms and an increase in well-being. The scores on well-being were lower than average at the start of the study and were similar to the rest of the population at two weeks, staying at this level at the four-week measurement.
The participants also participated in a time perception task that measures cognitive performance. The researchers also expected an improvement in this task, but alas, they found no significant change in the whole cohort and a slight decrease in those who also kept using conventional medication next to microdosing.
Microdosing may thus be a possible route for helping alleviate symptoms of ADHD. But there are limitations to the conclusion we can draw from the study.
A prospective study provides a signal, but no definitive answer
The strength of a prospective study is that participants can be followed over a period of time. An earlier survey also showed that those who microdose rate it as more effective than conventional treatments, but that only measures their responses at one point.
There are also weaknesses to this type of study. It could be that those who microdose expected it to work and thus felt better (the so-called expectancy effect). A group that receives a placebo could circumvent this worry. We also don’t know the exact amount of psychedelics participants ingested, so some might have been mini-dosing (have perceptual effects) instead of microdosing.
Finally, the study had a very high drop-out rate. Of the 233 participants who filled in the initial data, only 46 (20%) filled in the complete data at the four-week follow-up. It could very well be that those who filled in the data were exactly the people for whom microdosing worked.
That all being said, this study is the first to examine microdosing specifically for ADHD and provides a clear signal for researchers to study this further in clinical trials. With a shortage of Adderall and a culture of overprescribing, psychedelic alternatives may provide another way of improving well-being.
More psychedelic research news…
Evidence for developing tolerance to microdosing psychedelics
If you take a high dose of psychedelics two days in a row, the second day will be significantly less trippy than the first. Continue with the same dose for ten days straight, and you will have no subjective effects.
Researchers have found preliminary evidence for a similar effect for those who microdose psychedelics. Further analysis of the self-blinding microdosing trial finds that microdosers doing it for a more extended period were worse at guessing if they had taken a microdose. In other words, the evidence indicates that they developed a tolerance to microdosing psychedelics.
A stronger connection between the two halves of the brain in ayahuasca users
Your brain has two sides, the left and right hemispheres. What connects them is called the corpus callosum, a bundle of over 200 million nerves. Women have a slightly larger corpus callosum, and cutting this bridge is sometimes done to help those with severe epilepsy.
An fMRI (brain scanning) study investigated if there was a difference in this bridge between those who regularly used ayahuasca (123 times on average) and those who never used it. The study showed that a specific part of the corpus callosum was bigger in those who used ayahuasca. It should be noted that when corrected for multiple comparisons (a statistical method), the effect was not significant anymore.
How to have a good MDMA trip outside of the research context
Researchers reviewed the strategies people use to have a good trip on MDMA. The use of MDMA is not without risk (e.g. dehydration after dancing on ecstasy). Researching how people prevent risks can help inform harm-reduction campaigns.
The review maps out several strategies that people use. These range from drug-specific strategies (e.g. pill testing) and behavioral strategies (e.g. avoiding mixing with water) to peer-related strategies (e.g. not using ecstasy alone).
