Microdosing Psychedelics: Placebo, Performance Enhancer, or Precision Tool?
Introduction: Why Microdosing Is Worth Your Time
The idea of taking a psychedelic every three days might sound like something out of a Silicon Valley self-help blog or a mom meme from Boulder. But beneath the cultural buzz lies a serious scientific and clinical question: Can microdosing psychedelics be a precision intervention for mental health, creativity, or even stress physiology? You may wonder first, which psychedelics are we talking? We have early science on psilocybin, LSD, MDMA—and that’s what I cover in this article as well as my recent podcast on Microdosing.
As someone who spent decades steeped in the biochemical rigor of traditional medicine—and later stepped into the wild terrain of psychedelic-assisted therapy—I want to unpack the science we have (and the science we sorely lack), while mapping out how microdosing might interact with one of the most critical systems in the body: your psycho-immuno-neuro-endocrine (PINE) network.
Defining the Terms
Microdosing involves taking a sub-perceptual dose of a psychedelic—typically 5 to 20 micrograms of LSD or 100 to 500 milligrams of dried psilocybin mushrooms. The idea is to experience benefits like improved focus, emotional regulation, or sleep quality without the hallucinations or ego death of a full macrodose.
But let’s pause there: benefits according to whom? The scientific literature is young and sparse, riddled with small sample sizes, male-only cohorts, and outcome measures that often fail to capture real-world results. Still, let’s start with the strongest available data.
A 2024 systematic review by Murphy et al. evaluated 14 placebo-controlled trials of LSD microdosing (5–20 µg). They found no serious adverse effects, which is encouraging. Drug effects—on mood, pain, time perception, and neural activity—were perceptible starting around 10 µg, but not at 5 µg. Repeat dosing did not show cumulative effects (Murphy et al. 2024).
Another study published in 2024 involving 80 men found that 10 µg of LSD taken every three days for six weeks improved sleep duration by 24 minutes on the night after the dose, with no change in physical activity or sleep quality on dosing days (Allen et al. 2024).
Important caveat: this study only included men. That’s not a minor detail—it’s a gaping hole. Women process medications differently due to hormonal fluctuations, immune differences, and structural brain variation. To assume these findings apply to women is, frankly, outdated science.
As for psilocybin? A controlled trial involving 34 participants receiving 0.5 g of dried mushrooms found measurable EEG changes in the theta band and subtle subjective shifts, but no significant effects on creativity, well-being, or cognitive performance—likely due to laboratory testing limitations (Van Elk et al. 2023).
A 2022 meta-review of 44 studies from 1955 to 2021 summarized effects on mood, pain perception, neurobiology, and consciousness. The authors emphasized the high risk of bias, inconsistent dosing, and the need for rigorous trials (Kuypers et al. 2022).
The PINE Network: Why This Matters More Than It Sounds
Here’s where the conversation gets interesting. Microdosing may not just be about mood or creativity—it may affect your PINE network: a term we use in precision medicine to describe the interconnected web of your psyche, immune system, nervous system, and endocrine system.
This network underlies almost every chronic illness, from autoimmune conditions to depression to stress-related metabolic dysfunction. A poorly regulated PINE system often shows up as:
- Elevated cortisol and dysregulated HPA axis
- Low heart rate variability (HRV)
- Mood instability or treatment-resistant depression
- Impaired immune resilience
Could microdosing recalibrate the PINE system? That’s the hypothesis. We don’t yet have robust data to confirm it, but preliminary studies suggest microdosing may improve neural connectivity, stress reactivity, and even pain thresholds (Murphy et al. 2024; Kuypers et al. 2022).
The N of 1 Approach: Where Science Meets You
Because formal studies are lacking, one way to approach microdosing is through N of 1 experiments—single-subject trials where the individual is both the researcher and the subject.
Let’s say a patient with treatment-resistant anxiety tracks their sleep, HRV, and mood for two weeks with no intervention. Then they begin a six-week microdosing cycle—say, 10 µg of LSD every third day or 0.3 g of psilocybin—tracking the same metrics.
You don’t need a randomized trial to notice that you’re sleeping better, fighting less with your partner, or writing more pages per day.
Caveat: N of 1 works best when paired with objective metrics—not just vibes. Sleep trackers, HRV wearables, and digital mood logs help make the subjective data more meaningful.
My Personal Experience: From Trauma to Curiosity
I was late to psychedelics. My first macrodose—MDMA in a therapeutic setting—was five years ago, motivated by a high ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) score and a stubborn feeling of dysregulation I couldn’t meditate or biohack my way out of.
That session opened something I hadn’t accessed before: not just insight, but resolution. The lingering tightness in my nervous system—the hypervigilance, the stress spikes—finally softened.
Microdosing came later. I found that psilocybin improved my HRV and sleep, similar to what was observed in the men’s LSD study. I felt more regulated. Less likely to snap at my partner. More able to access compassion—for others and for myself.
The Future I Want to See
We need more than headlines about “Mommies Who Mushroom” or “Tech Bros on Acid.” We need structured, legal, and ethically grounded protocols for both micro and macrodosing.
We need:
- Sex- and gender-specific studies
- Standardized dosing protocols
- Integration with wearable data and psychometric testing
- Clinician training in psychedelic-assisted care
- Access outside of elite or underground circles
This isn’t about recreational use. It’s about adding a new lever to the toolkit of precision psychiatry, neuroregeneration, and trauma resolution.
We’ve done this for metabolic health. We’re doing it for longevity. Now it’s time to bring the same rigor to psychedelic medicine.
Closing: What You Can Do Now
- Track your HRV, sleep, mood, and stress symptoms before experimenting.
- If you’re microdosing, do so in a legal, informed, and structured setting.
- Talk to a provider who understands both your physiology and your psychology.
- Be curious. Be cautious. Be precise.
Microdosing won’t cure everything. But in the right dose, in the right context, with the right intention—it might just open a door.
If you have questions about microdosing, visit soundpipe.com/treated and leave me a voicemail. Let’s build this future—together, and with the data to back it up.
Citations
Allen, A. P., et al. 2024. “Effects of Repeated Low-Dose LSD on Sleep and Activity.” Journal of Psychopharmacology38(1): 15–28.
Kuypers, K. P. C., T. A. Ng, M. Erritzoe, et al. 2022. “Microdosing Psychedelics: A Systematic Review of the Scientific Literature.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 132: 353–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.037.
Murphy, R., L. Copeland, H. Tang, et al. 2024. “Acute Behavioral and Neural Effects of Low-Dose LSD in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review of Placebo-Controlled Trials.” Psychopharmacology 241(2): 201–215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-023-06495-0.
Van Elk, M., J. J. Fejer, D. J. Mertens, et al. 2023. “EEG Correlates of Microdosing with Psilocybin: A Placebo-Controlled Crossover Study.” Psychological Medicine 53(1): 103–115. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291722001217.
Fadiman, J., and S. Korb. 2020. Your Symphony of Selves: Discover and Understand More of Who We Are. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.
MAPS Public Benefit Corporation. 2023. “Summary Results of Phase 3 Trial of MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD.” Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. https://maps.org.