By Dr. Sushama R. Chaphalkar, PhD.Apr 17 2024Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLM In a recent study published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, researchers from New Zealand conducted a phase I trial to assess the effect of micro-dosing of lysergic acid diethylamide on the sleep and activity patterns of 80 healthy male adults.
Previous studies on macrodoses of psychedelics like ayahuasca and psilocybin suggest alterations in rapid eye movement sleep but do not affect total sleep time. Animal studies similarly show increased wakefulness and reduced REM and non-REM durations with serotonergic psychedelics. About the study The present study employed a double-blind parallel-group design, randomizing healthy male volunteers into LSD and placebo groups. Participants self-administered ten µg LSD base or placebo every three days for six weeks.
Dosing occurred before 11 am on dosing days. Compliance was ensured by video recording dose administration. These differences amounted to an additional 8.13 minutes of REM sleep, 21.1 minutes asleep, and 24.3 minutes of total sleep. While deep sleep approached significance , no changes in sleep stage proportions reached significance.