New Atlas: No difference between psilocybin microdosing and placebo, trial finds

Corresponding author on the study, Michiel van Elk tells New Atlas his team found no tangible differences in participants comparing the periods they were psilocybin microdosing and the periods they were given placebo. In fact, van Elk says the biggest surprise was how many participants guessed when they were taking active microdoses and when they were taking a placebo.

“Indeed it turned out that there was no effect of psilocybin on most of the different measures that we included in our study,” van Elk says in an email to New Atlas. “What surprised us most was that many participants broke blind: they figured out what condition they were assigned to (placebo or microdosing). This might well be related to the fact that many participants also had prior experience with microdosing and psychedelic drug use.”