Can small molecules lead to big changes? 

Microdosing has exploded in popularity over the past six years. A microdose can be 1/10th or less of a recreational dose and users will often microdose regularly every 3 or 4 days over an extended period of time. Due to the very low dose, microdosers do not usually report the dramatic cognitive and perceptual changes that typically characterise psychedelic experiences, rather immediate effects are reported to be very subtle and sometimes barely noticeable. 

Despite this, microdosers make a wide variety of claims for the benefits of microdosing, including improved vitality, positive mood, increased attention and greater creativity. The idea that substances such as LSD and psilocybin might be effective at very low doses has helped shift psychedelics from being a taboo topic to something that is favourably discussed in all kinds of mainstream media outlets and dinner party conversations around the world.

But what do we really know about microdosing? Are the claims of microdosing proponents justified? Or, as some recent research has suggested, is the effect entirely due to placebo?

In this talk, Dr Vince Polito will:

• review what we know about microdosing based on recent research, including his own longitudinal and neuroimaging studies
• trace some less well-known strands of microdosing history, including early efforts to popularise the idea of taking very low doses of psychedelics in the 1980s, and a series of little known older experimental studies that took place prior to prohibition
• discuss what this old and modern research tells us about the potentials of low dose psychedelics and the most promising avenues for future experimental trials.

About our Presenter: Dr Vince Polito

Dr Vince Polito is a Senior Lecturer from the School of Psychological Sciences at Macquarie University. Vince has a keen interest in understanding how altered states of consciousness can impact on cognition and mental health, and he and his students have studied hypnosis, states of flow, meditation, yoga, chanting, virtual reality, religious rituals and psychosis. 

Vince is best known for his work in psychedelics, conducting the first longitudinal study of microdosing, which has become the most cited paper on the subject to date. He is developing a psychedelic research program at Macquarie that includes the world’s first magnetoencephalography (MEG) study of microdosing, and is leading one of Australia’s largest psychedelic clinical trials, which will investigate low doses of psilocybin as a potential treatment for depression.

This webinar will be hosted by AAPi’s Psychedelic Assisted Therapy (PAT) Interest Group.

Webinar timing:  3:00 – 4:30 PM AEDT

Access to the recording of this webinar: A recording of this webinar will be available through the CPD Webinar Library, but for the best experience and the opportunity to ask your questions, join us live. Everyone who registers will be advised via email as soon as the recording is available. Members have unlimited access to the recording, and non-members will have access for 6 months.