I am a research fellow at the School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland. My research focusses on using electroencephalography (EEG) and computational modelling to provide a mechanistic understanding of how drugs and disorder affect the brain. I have worked with ketamine, scopolamine, LSD in the context of understanding novel treatments for depression. From my doctoral work I have a particular passion for women’s health and menstrual cycle related disorders. I am currently leading a clinical study on catamenial epilepsy.
Auckland profile: https://profiles.auckland.ac.nz/r-sumner/publications
Colloquium Presentation: 31 March 2023 – 3.30-5pm
Acute mood-elevating and pro-social properties of microdosed LSD in healthy volunteers: a home-administered randomised controlled trial.
Abstract
Microdosing psychedelic drugs is a widespread social phenomenon with diverse claims of benefits to mood and cognition. Randomised controlled trials have failed to support these claims, but the laboratory-based dosing in trials to date may have limited ecological validity. In this study healthy male volunteers were randomised into Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (n = 40) and placebo (n = 40) groups and received 14 doses of either 10 μg LSD or an inactive placebo every three days for six weeks. First doses were given under supervision in a laboratory setting, with other doses self-administered at home. I will present on the MDLSD study early results including those that demonstrate that microdosing elicited increases in scales associated with mood and prosocial effects. I will include discussion on future directions for microdosing and where our research is heading next.