Sydney Microdosing Study
Participant and Recruitment Information
Do you microdose with psilocybin (magic mushrooms)?
Researchers at Macquarie University are looking for individuals who microdose (or who are planning to microdose) to take part in a study investigating the psychological and neural effects of psychedelics. If you would like to volunteer please read the information below.
šParticipant Information
šEnrol in the Study
šFAQs
For enquires related to this study please contact sydneymdstudy@gmail.com
PARTICIPANT INFORMATION
WHAT IS MICRODOSING?
- Microdosing is taking a very low dose of a psychedelic substance, for example approximately 0.1 - 0.5 grams of dried Psilocybe Cubensis mushrooms, or 2-5 milligrams of synthetic psilocybin.
- People who microdose typically take one dose every 3-4 days for a period of time.
This study is not intended to encourage anyone to use illegal substances. We are looking for people who are already microdosing. We will not provide anyone with any substances in this study.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
To participate in this study, you must be planning to microdose during the next three months, be aged between 18 and 70 years old, be proficient in English, and be able to attend Macquarie University in Sydney on two assessment days (each visit will last about 2 hours). To take part, you must not have a history or current diagnosis of primary psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder, dissociative disorder, or substance use disorder. You must not have a family history of schizophrenia or psychosis. Additionally, you must not be pregnant or planning to be pregnant during the study, have uncontrolled hypertension or other cardiac conditions.
WHAT IS INVOLVED?
The study will include the following parts:
- When first enrolling in the study we will ask you to complete an online survey to assess your suitability for the study. This will take only a few minutes; if you are eligible, you will be asked to answer further questions in the same sitting, which will take approximately 15-minutes to complete.
- If eligible, you will be contacted to schedule two laboratory appointments. In addition, we will provide instructions for how to prepare a placebo microdose.
- You will be required to attend in person at the Macquarie Brain Research Lab (16 University Ave, Macquarie University, NSW 2109) on two occasions when you are planning to microdose. We will schedule assessment times to fit in with your regular microdosing routine. You will be required to arrange for someone to drive you to and from the Lab, or to use public transport. We can cover the cost of a taxi or ride share if required.
- On each assessment day, you will complete a set of questionnaires and your brain will be scanned using magnetencephalography (MEG), a safe, non-invasive brain imaging technique. During MEG scanning, you will be required to complete some computer-based tasks. Each appointment will take approximately 2 hours in total.
- On each testing day you will be asked to give a small blood sample that we will use to investigate physiological biomarkers related to microdosing. This portion of the study is optional.
The MEG scan takes place in a small room, and participants will be required to lie in a confined scanner for up to 45 minutes.
You are free to discontinue the study immediately and at any time, without providing a reason.
WHAT DO I GET FOR TAKING PART?
You will be making a valuable contribution to the science of microdosing! Also, we can offer $100 for participation in this study ($50 per lab visit). We can additionally reimburse you for travel costs incurred travelling to Macquarie University (from within Sydney only).
HOW DO YOU KEEP MY INFORMATION SAFE?
Your privacy will be protected and we will only store identifiable information in order to schedule lab visits. All information that you provide will be de-identified, and results of this study will only be reported as group data.
If you would like to participate, or to find out more, please enrol below.
Finally, if you know of anyone who may be interested in this study, please pass this information on.
Thank you for your support of this research.
Dr Vince Polito (Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University) Phone: +61 2 9850 2966 Email: vince.polito@mq.edu.au
Dr Paul Liknaitzky (School of Psychological Sciences and Dept of Psychiatry, Monash University) Email: Paul.L@monash.edu
ENROL
If you would like to enrol in the study, you will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire to assess your eligibility.
FAQ
Who can participate in this study?
This study is open to people aged 18-70 who are based in Sydney Australia. You must already have access to microdoses of psilocybin in order to take part in the study. Unfortunately, we cannot enrol participants with a history of some mental illnesses. More information is provided above.
Do you provide psychedelics to participants in this study?
No. We do not provide any substances to participants in this study. This is an observational study, investigating the experiences of people who are already microdosing. There are two reasons for this study design:
- An āobservationalā study design allows us to investigate microdosing in a realistic context. Rather than dictate doses and schedules, we are studying the effects of the ways that people actually microdose.
- Because psychedelics are prohibited substances in Australia, bureaucratic and practical factors make research with these substances complex and expensive. Opting for an āobservational designā allows us to build up our understanding of the effects of psychedelics, and pave the way towards more controlled studies.
Can you help me find psychedelic substances?
Unfortunately we can’t provide any information on sourcing psychedelics. These substances are prohibited in Australia and we do not encourage anyone to start using these substances.
Why are people with certain mental illnesses excluded from this study?
People with a diagnoses of psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder, dissociative disorder, or substance use disorder canāt take part in the study. Additionally people with a family history of schizophrenia or psychosis cannot take part. While the potential for psychedelics to help treat various mental illnesses is being explored in Australia and internationally, this is not a key focus of the current study. Accordingly, this trial does not provide the clinical support and infrastructure required to safely explore clinical applications, and the scientific aims of this study require participants without mental illness.
Why are you studying something that is illegal?
Although psychedelics are illegal in Australia we acknowledge that many people use these substances. We don’t encourage this but we would like to understand the effects, potential benefits and possible risks of these practices.
How will you keep my personal information safe?
We take participant privacy and security extremely seriously in this study. Here are some of the considerations and steps that we take:
- We collect only the minimal amount of personal information possible for us to run the study.
- We do need to schedule lab visits from participants in this study and we do need to post some study materials. This means that we will ask for your phone number and a mailing address. We will keep this information only long enough to run these aspects of the study. Phone numbers and mailing addresses will then be destroyed.
- When individuals enrol in the study we provide information on how to create an anonymous email address.
- We do not track IPs or any other digital information on our website or screening surveys.
- We keep any study data completely separate from any personal information.
What happens after I enrol?
After you complete the initial screening survey, if you are eligible we will contact you within 3 days to schedule your lab visits. If you do not hear from us (or if you have any problems with the screening survey) please write to the email address below.
If you have any additional questions please contact as at sydneymdstudy@gmail.com