Over the last decade, the underground practice of “microdosing” psychedelics has emerged into the mainstream. The idea is simple: consume just a tiny fraction of a full hallucinogenic dose, avoiding the intense visual and emotional effects, but potentially reaping purported benefits like improved mood, creativity and focus.

”Microdosing involves taking very small, sub-perceptual doses of psychedelic drugs like LSD or psilocybin, in repeated doses. Unlike standard, hallucinogenic doses of LSD, microdoses are typically one-tenth to one-twentieth of a typical recreational dose, in the case of LSD usually around 5 to 20 micrograms. The goal of microdosing with psychedelics is not to alter perceptions or “trip” but rather to experience potential cognitive enhancements, improved mood and wellbeing, and increased creativity.” said Amy Reichelt, Ph.D., Chief Innovation Officer at PurMinds NeuroPharma.

Proponents have written books and launched businesses around microdosing regimens, most commonly involving lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or psilocybin mushrooms. Civilians have formed communities to share their experiences, with some reporting improved sleep as one of the benefits.

But until now, there has been little scientifically rigorous evidence demonstrating measurable effects of taking these minuscule psychedelic quantities. A new placebo-controlled trial from researchers at the University of Auckland has changed that.

The Discovery

The study, published in the journal Nature Translational Psychiatry, was primarily designed to look at mood effects from repeated microdosing of LSD in healthy participants. But researchers made an accidental and fascinating discovery related to sleep.

For six weeks, 80 men were given either a placebo or 10 microgram (μg) doses of LSD every third day, an extremely low level about 1/10th of what would be required for a typical full psychedelic experience. Unbeknownst to the researchers when they designed the trial, taking LSD on day 1 seemed to increase how long participants slept on day 2 compared to placebo.

By having participants wear consumer sleep tracking devices like Fitbits throughout the study, the researchers were able to quantify stark differences in sleep patterns between the two groups. Those who received LSD slept an average of 24 minutes longer on nights following a dose, including an extra 8 minutes of REM sleep, a crucial stage for memory formation.

A Meaningful Effect

While a 24-minute difference in sleep duration may sound small, Dr. Rachael Sumner, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Auckland, emphasized its clinical significance: “Even 24 minutes is considered clinically meaningful and this study was in healthy people who did not even have a pre-existing sleep problem. A common symptom of depression and other mental health disorders is insomnia or not enough sleep.”

Curiously, LSD did not impact sleep on dosing days themselves, only producing this “sleep hangover” effect the following night. Participants given LSD also went to bed earlier but did not wake up later, suggesting their brains simply required more sleep time to recover from the drug’s effects.

To rule out placebo effects or mere expectancy influencing the results, researchers emphasize that participants were never told the study was looking at sleep impacts. The sleep differences also emerged without any subjective reports from participants that their sleep patterns had changed.

“It was quite covert,” said a researcher involved in the study. “We wouldn’t have picked it up if we weren’t objectively monitoring sleep.”

Potential Therapeutic Relevance

Justin Hanka, CEO of MindBio Therapeutics, sponsor of the study, highlighted the potential therapeutic implications: “Microdosing MB22001 is a disruptive treatment methodology that we know improves sleep, depression and mood and our ambition is to develop this treatment globally at scale for affordable access to patients without the limitations and side-effects of common anti-depressants.”

While the initial study only included healthy men, the researchers believe the sleep effects could have significance for using microdosed LSD to treat mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. Moving ahead, the team plans to incorporate sleep monitoring into their ongoing Phase 2 trials testing microdosed LSD for depression.

Pragmatically, the findings also underscore the importance of having “off days” between LSD microdoses to allow sufficient sleep recovery.

Limitations and Unknowns

Despite the intriguing results, there are still many unanswered questions about psychedelic microdosing and sleep. It’s unclear if other commonly microdosed substances like psilocybin would produce similar effects given their differing pharmacological profiles.

It’s also unknown if the sleep effect would persist in other populations like women, older adults, or those with mental illnesses. The study only included younger healthy men to reduce potential confounding influences.

“We need to be careful about overgeneralizing these results,” cautioned a researcher. “Larger studies in more diverse populations will be required.”

There are also limitations to using consumer sleep tracking devices compared to polysomnography machines in a sleep lab. While validated for measuring sleep duration, the devices cannot precisely determine sleep onset or finer details of sleep architecture.

A Piece of the Puzzle

So should the general public start microdosing LSD to sleep better? Not so fast, researchers warn. They note the doses used were so low that participants did not report any psychedelic effects like visual hallucinations. Higher doses taken recreationally could have entirely different impacts on sleep.

The study authors emphasize their findings are just one piece of an emerging scientific picture around the impacts of psychedelic microdosing. It remains to be seen if the practice lives up to other benefits like improved mood and cognition frequently cited by supporters.