Scientists Find Psychedelic Mushroom Microdoses Can Improve Mood and Mental-Health – The Mahathian Post

Psychedelic microdosers noted several improvements compared to non-microdosers.

Further evidence of the therapeutic potential of microdosing has been provided by the latest research to examine how tiny amounts of psychedelics can affect mental health.

In the study recently published in Scientific Reports, 953 people who regularly took small amounts of psilocybin and a second group of 180 people who did not microdose were followed. This latest research comes from the Microdose.me The project was led by Dr. Zach Walsh of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan and graduate student Joseph Rootman.

Participants in the 30-day study were asked to complete a series of assessments assessing mental health symptoms, mood and cognitive measures. For example, a smartphone fingertip test was integrated into the study to measure psychomotor skills. This can be used as a marker for neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s disease.

Those who microdosed psilocybin showed greater improvements in mood, mental health, and psychomotor skills over the one-month period compared to their non-microdosing peers. Both groups completed the same assessments.

“This is the largest longitudinal study of its kind to date on psilocybin microdosing and one of the few studies to include a control group,” said Dr. Walsh, who teaches at the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Social Sciences. “Our findings on improved mood and reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress add to the growing discussion about the therapeutic potential of microdosing.”

Large doses of psychedelic psilocybin mushrooms have a long history of use among some indigenous peoples. They are prized by some in Western culture for their psychedelic effects, explains Dr. Walsh. They were also labeled an illegal substance during America’s “War on Drugs.” However, recent interest has broadened from the use of high-dose psychedelics—known for inducing dramatic changes in mood and consciousness—to the potential therapeutic use of smaller microdoses. These are amounts so small that they minimally interfere with day-to-day functioning.

The Microdose.me project is being carried out by an international team including Dr. UBC Vancouver’s Pam Kryskow, Maggie Kiraga and Dr. Kim Kuypers from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, American mycologist Paul Stamets, and Kalin Harvey and Eesmyal Santos-Brault from the Quantified Citizen Health research platform.

Microdosing involves regular self-administration in doses small enough not to interfere with normal cognitive function. Doses can be as low as 0.1 to 0.3 grams of dried mushrooms and taken three to five times a week.

The most commonly reported substances used for microdosing are psilocybin mushrooms and LSD. Psilocybin mushrooms are considered non-addictive and relatively non-toxic—especially when compared to tobacco, opioids, and alcohol.

“Our findings on mood improvements and mental health improvements associated with psilocybin microdosing are consistent with previous studies of psychedelics microdosing and complement them through the use of a longitudinal study design and a large sample size, which allowed us to demonstrate consistency of effects across age.” to examine gender and their mental health,” says Rootman.

The comparisons of microdosers versus non-microdosers over the month-long study period showed greater improvements in microdosers when asked about their mood, depression, anxiety and stress, he explains. Analyzes of the fingertip test showed that microdosers showed a more positive change in performance than non-microdosers, particularly in those over 55 years of age.

“Despite the promising nature of these results, there is a need for further research to establish the nature of the relationship between microdosing, mood and mental health, and the extent to which these effects are directly attributable to psilocybin, rather than participants’ expectations about the substance.” ” says Dr. Walsh.

Although the study was not designed to examine the potential impact of participant expectation on microdose outcomes, the authors note that this is a needed advancement in the field.

“Given the enormous health care costs and the ubiquity of depression and anxiety, as well as the significant proportion of patients who are unresponsive to existing treatments, the potential for a different approach to treating these disorders deserves careful consideration,” says Rootman.

Reference: “Psilocybin Microdosers Demonstrate Greater Observed Improvements in Mood and Mental Health at One Month Compared to Non-Microdosing Controls” by Joseph M. Rootman, Maggie Kiraga, Pamela Kryskow, Kalin Harvey, Paul Stamets, Eesmyal Santos-Brault, Kim PC Kuypers and Zach Walsh, June 30, 2022, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14512-3