Salience, Sensemaking, and Setting in Psilocybin Microdosing: Methodological Lessons and Preliminary Findings of a Mixed Method Qualitative Study
March 20, 2024 Aleš Oblak, Liam Korošec Hudnik, Anja Levačić et al. 1 citation preprint
Psilocybin microdosing loosens mental structures, making thoughts less intense and thinking more flexible but less stable, while increasing the salience of external stimuli—sometimes making mundane activities more interesting, sometimes causing sensory overload. The experience is appraised more positively in highly structured environments. Momentary ecological assessments and retrospective interviews gave completely opposite accounts of the experience, highlighting profound methodological challenges in microdosing research. The findings relate to stable versus flexible cognition and the concept of salience, underscoring the need for systematic mixed-methods studies to better characterize the lived experience of psilocybin microdosing.