Researchers have conducted highly regulated studies, using careful screening, therapeutic preparation, controlled settings, and with trained monitors. One promising arena is the treatment of substance abuse.  It is important to note that there are no claims of safety while using psychedelics in uncontrolled and unmonitored settings.

One study found that volunteers who were given psilocybin experienced lasting change in openness to experience, they continued to be more open beyond a year afterward. Another study has also found that hallucinogen users reported short-term increases in openness to experience two weeks after an experimental dose of LSD.

Microdosing refers to the ingestion of very small doses of certain psychoactive drugs, most often LSD, psilocybin, or cannabis. Microdoses are known as “sub-perceptual” and are typically one-tenth or even one-twentieth of a normal dose. Though microdosing could occur in a therapeutic setting, it is typically done outside of one.

The aim of microdosing is to trigger a drug’s therapeutic benefits—such as increased creativity or improved mood—without the potentially disruptive effects seen at higher doses, such as hallucinations or dissociation. In recent years, microdosing has gained popularity, fueled in part by its use among Silicon Valley tech workers, many of whom anecdotally report microdosing to increase productivity.

Taking very small doses of psychedelics has shown some positive effects on performance and creativity in mostly anecdotal settings. But one study that appeared in the journal Psychopharmacology, looked into divergent thinking and creativity, which had improved after microdosing. Fluid intelligence, however, was unaffected.

Researchers at UC Davis gave one-tenth of a dose, based on body weight, to laboratory rodents. They found that these minute quantities also improve mood and lessen anxiety. The investigators measured mobility in the rats, which is a sign of better mood.