The Altered Xperience Project (AXP): Quantitative and Qualitative Data from a Citizen Science Initiative on the Subjective Experience of Altered States of Consciousness
OpenAlex – June 04, 2023
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
An innovative **citizen science** initiative is building a vast **open science** repository of **consciousness**-altering experiences. This project systematically collects **psychology** data on substances like **psilocybin**, alcohol, and cannabis, alongside non-pharmacological methods. Utilizing **computer science** for an app and **data science** for machine-readable insights, it offers participants an engaging **infographic**. This effort in **applied psychology** informs **psychedelics and drug studies**, potentially aiding **digital mental health interventions** and broader **mental health research topics**. Such data could even contribute to **medical education** and **medicine**.
Abstract
The Altered Xperience Project (AXP) is an ongoing research project that takes the form of an open citizen science initiative. Its main goal is to systematically collect and consolidate data on the subjective experiences induced by various consciousness-manipulating techniques (CMTs). These include both psychoactive substances as well as non-pharmacological manoeuvres that induce altered states of consciousness (ASCs); also known as ASC induction methods. AXP aims to build a publicly open repository of psychometric questionnaire data, accompanied by structured open reports. By providing systematically structured and machine-readable data that can be easily accessed by researchers, AXP will complement existing initiatives in this field.This article introduces a proof-of-principle dataset (dataset v1.0) that includes data collected until 05-2022, while the vast majority of the data was collected in the period 03-10-2022 to 13-10-2022. The dataset includes categorised data on low, medium and high doses of alcohol, cannabis, NMDA, and psilocybin. Participation was incentivised by an engaging infographic comparing one's own data with that of other participants. The pilot version of the AXP app was available in English and Spanish, and participants were recruited internationally, mainly through a social media campaign by El gato y la Caja, a citizen science group. The data is made available through the Open Science Framework (OSF): https://osf.io/c3zq5/