m-DASC: Measuring Subjective Effects of Very Low Doses of Psychedelic Drugs

Area of Science:

• Psychopharmacology
• Neuroscience
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Interest in low-dose psychedelic drugs like lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for mood and cognition enhancement is growing.
• Existing questionnaires are not suitable for assessing the subtle effects of low-dose LSD.
• Previous analyses showed standard questionnaires do not capture the structure of responses to very low LSD doses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a new psychometric tool for accurately measuring the subjective effects of low-dose LSD.
• To identify suitable questionnaire items for assessing subtle psychedelic effects.

Main Methods:

• Principal component analysis was used on data from 199 healthy volunteers receiving 6.5, 13, or 26 µg of LSD.
• Items from the Five-Dimensional Altered States of Consciousness Questionnaire (5D-ASC) were adapted.
• The micro-dimensional Altered States of Consciousness (m-DASC) scale was developed, comprising four components.

Main Results:

• The m-DASC is a 31-item scale, significantly shorter than existing measures.
• It explained 44% of the variance in the dataset.
• Significant LSD effects were detected at 13 and 26 µg doses, with high correlation to longer scales.

Conclusions:

• The m-DASC is a valuable tool for future research on the subjective effects of low-dose psychedelic drugs.
• This scale addresses the limitations of existing questionnaires for microdosing studies.
• The m-DASC facilitates more precise investigation into the impact of subtle psychedelic experiences.