The effects of microdose LSD on time perception: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
- PDF / 661,043 Bytes
- 12 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 88 Downloads / 152 Views
ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION
The effects of microdose LSD on time perception: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial Steliana Yanakieva 1 & Naya Polychroni 1 & Neiloufar Family 2 & Luke T. J. Williams 2,3 & David P. Luke 4 & Devin B. Terhune 1,5 Received: 23 May 2018 / Accepted: 9 November 2018 # The Author(s) 2018
Abstract Rationale Previous research demonstrating that lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) produces alterations in time perception has implications for its impact on conscious states and a range of psychological functions that necessitate precise interval timing. However, interpretation of this research is hindered by methodological limitations and an inability to dissociate direct neurochemical effects on interval timing from indirect effects attributable to altered states of consciousness. Methods We conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study contrasting oral administration of placebo with three microdoses of LSD (5, 10, and 20 μg) in older adults. Subjective drug effects were regularly recorded and interval timing was assessed using a temporal reproduction task spanning subsecond and suprasecond intervals. Results LSD conditions were not associated with any robust changes in self-report indices of perception, mentation, or concentration. LSD reliably produced over-reproduction of temporal intervals of 2000 ms and longer with these effects most pronounced in the 10 μg dose condition. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that LSD-mediated over-reproduction was independent of marginal differences in self-reported drug effects across conditions. Conclusions These results suggest that microdose LSD produces temporal dilation of suprasecond intervals in the absence of subjective alterations of consciousness. Keywords Interval timing . LSD . Microdosing . Older adults . Striatum
Introduction Our perception of time is important for momentary updating and integration of perceptual information in working memory and is thereby increasingly being recognised as an integral feature of consciousness (Wittmann 2015; Yin et al. 2016). In turn, distortions in interval timing (time perception in the milliseconds to minutes range) are a hallmark feature of * Devin B. Terhune [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, 8 Lewisham Way, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK
2
Eleusis Pharmaceuticals Ltd, London, UK
3
Centre for Psychiatry, Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK
4
Department of Psychology, Social Work, & Counselling, University of Greenwich, London, UK
5
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
altered states of consciousness (Berkovich-Ohana and Wittmann 2017; Preller and Vollenweider 2016; Wittmann et al. 2014), as well as psychiatric disorders characterised by disruptions of consciousness, such as schizophrenia and the dissociative disorders (Allman and Meck 2012; Giersch et al. 2015; Simeon et al. 2007; Spiegel et al. 2013). A striking instance of the close coupling of cons
Data Loading...
