What the (small) evidence base actually says.
The claim that sub-perceptual doses of LSD or psilocybin enhance creativity has been in circulation since Silicon Valley made it fashionable. The evidence is more equivocal than the enthusiasm.
Placebo-controlled trials of microdosing have generally produced smaller effects than open-label studies. In several well-designed studies, subjective expectations of enhanced creativity were confirmed by participants, but objective measures — divergent thinking tasks, actual creative output — showed effects indistinguishable from placebo.
This does not mean nothing is happening. It means what is happening may be considerably more modest than the folklore suggests, and considerably more mediated by expectation than users typically acknowledge.
The safest reading is that microdosing is a scientifically live question with a preliminary evidence base that does not yet support the strong claims made for it. There may be subpopulations who benefit, mechanisms not yet captured by standard measures, or effects that only appear over longer time horizons than typical trials cover. There may also be, mostly, a well-marketed expectation effect. The distinction matters.
The Aha Moment, Neurally
Right-hemisphere gamma bursts and sudden insight.
Constraint as Creative Fuel
Why limits often produce the freest work.
On Keeping a Commonplace Book
An old practice for a distracted age.
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