PainRelief.com Interview with:|
Balázs Szigeti, PhD
Center for Psychedelic Research
Imperial College London

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?

Response: The study investigated microdosing which is the regular intake of small doses of psychedelics drugs (e.g. LSD; a typical microdose is about 10-20% of recreational doses).  This study used a ‘self-blinding’ citizen science methodology, where participants, who microdosed on their own initiative using their own substance could participate online. Participants were given online instructions on how to incorporate placebo control into their microdosing routine without clinical supervision. The strength of this design is that it allowed us to obtain a large sample size while implementing placebo control at minimal logistic and economic costs.  The study was completed by 191 participants, making it the largest placebo-controlled trial on psychedelics to-date, for a fraction of a cost of a clinical study.