Psychedelics have experienced a resurgence in popularity amid growing research into their potential mental health benefits. Millions of Americans are microdosing these compounds in the hopes of gaining some of these benefits without pronounced psychoactive effects. But new research suggests women may experience different outcomes than men.
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Preliminary research presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Congress in Munich, Germany, suggests LSD microdosing may affect sustained attention differently in women and men. Researchers from the University of Maastricht recruited 48 volunteers for their randomized controlled study. The group included 24 women, with an average age of 36.9 years.
Participants were either given four small doses of LSD or a placebo over a two-week period. The doses were roughly 15 micrograms.
The researchers focused on how LSD impacted three areas of cognitive performance: sustained attention, working memory, and information processing. The volunteers completed a variety of tests at four time points: at the start of the study, after the first dose, after the fourth dose, and during a follow-up.
The starkest contrast was in the sustained attention test, in which participants watched a screen and responded quickly when a signal appeared. Women in the LSD group responded to the signal roughly eight percent faster than those in the placebo group. Women in the placebo group also had nearly twice as many attention lapses as those who took the microdoses.
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The researchers found no notable differences among men in either group.
Researchers cautioned that the study was small and that the sex-specific findings require further investigation. However, they did affirm that the results are important as compounds like LSD and psilocybin inch closer to FDA approval.
“We are beginning to see that people respond to psychedelics in different ways,” said lead researcher Iva Totomanova in a press release. “With psychedelic pharmaceuticals, it looks like personalized medicine is important.”
The findings add to a growing body of research examining whether LSD may affect women differently than men. A 2024 study found that women reported fewer positive subjective benefits to LSD use than men, though sex alone was not determined to be a significant predictor of results.
Earlier research in rats revealed sex-specific differences in behavioral responses to LSD. Researchers believed the female reproductive cycle played a role in the results.
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As researchers continue exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, understanding individual differences in response could eventually help inform treatment decisions.
“The results point to a more cautious message: effects may depend on the person, the cognitive task being measured, and the circumstances of use,” Totomanova noted. “A better question may be, who responds to microdosing, and under what circumstances?”
