Webinar Oct 7th, 2024. Jay Olson: Tripping on nothing – the hidden role of placebo effects in psychedelic drugs

Is it possible to have a psychedelic experience from a placebo? The past decade has seen a surge of interest in psychedelics across the world, but there are growing concerns about study methodology. One of those concerns relates to blinding: because participants generally know whether they have taken a psychedelic drug, maintaining experimental blinding is challenging. However, people in placebo groups occasionally also report significant consciousness-altering experiences. This deserves more research. Furthering our understanding of placebo effects might prove useful for both research and clinical applications of psychedelics.

Some of the most intriguing research mapping the relationship between psychedelics and placebo has been conducted by Jay Olson, a postdoc researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. On Monday, October 7th at 6PM UTC+3, he will present his work in a webinar organized by the Finnish Association for Psychedelic Research. In his talk, he will argue that some of the benefits of psychedelics may be due to placebo-related factors such as positive expectations rather than the drug itself. 

His research paper Tripping on Nothing: The hidden role of placebo effects in psychedelic drugs describes an elaborate deception that Olson and his colleagues utilized to convince participants that the placebo they consumed was actually a psychedelic drug, which led to the largest placebo effects on consciousness documented in the literature. Research participants described visual alterations, waves of intoxication and strong physiological effects. The results align with clinical trials that find striking improvements in both psychedelic and placebo groups.

Please note that, respecting the wish of our lecturer, this lecture will not be recorded, so if you want to hear it, be sure to attend! 

The event contains a Q&A section and the total length is 2 hours. The event is free of charge – you can register here. Also, if you want to support our work on high-quality scientific discussions on all things psychedelic, you can pay your membership fee for this year or, if you’re not already a member, become one. You’ll find our membership products on the main page of our web store.

About the speaker:

Dr. Jay Olson is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. He studies a range of topics across psychology and medicine including placebo effects, smartphone addiction, sleep, creativity, and psychedelic drugs. He did his previous graduate and postdoctoral training at McGill University and Harvard University.