Self-experimentation

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Self-experimentation refers to single-subject research in which the experimenter conducts the experiment on themself.

Contents

Usually this means that a single person is the designer, operator, subject, analyst, and user or reporter of the experiment.

Also referred to as Personal science or N-of-1 research, [1] self-experimentation is an example of citizen science, [2] since it can also be led by patients or people interested in their own health and well-being, as both research subjects and self-experimenters.

Biology and medicine

Human scientific self-experimentation principally (though not necessarily) falls into the fields of medicine and psychology. Self-experimentation has a long and well-documented history in medicine which continues to the present day. [3]

For example, after failed attempts to infect piglets in 1984, Barry Marshall drank a petri dish of Helicobacter pylori from a patient, and soon developed gastritis, achlorhydria, stomach discomfort, nausea, vomiting, and halitosis. [4] The results were published in 1985 in the Medical Journal of Australia, [5] and is among the most cited articles from the journal. [6] He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2005.

Evaluations have been presented in the context of clinical trials and program evaluations. [7] [8]

Psychology

In psychology, the best-known self-experiments are the memory studies of Hermann Ebbinghaus, which established many basic characteristics of human memory through tedious experiments involving nonsense syllables. [9]

Chemistry

Several popular and well-known sweeteners were discovered by deliberate or sometimes accidental tasting of reaction products. Saccharin was synthetized in 1879 in the chemistry labs of Ira Remsen at Johns Hopkins by a student scientist, Constantin Fahlberg, who noticed "curious sweet taste on his fingers while eating his dinner, [and] realized that it came from something he had spilled on his hand during the day". Fahlberg subsequently identified the active compound, ortho-benzoic sulfimide, and named it saccharin. [10] [11] Cyclamate was discovered when a chemistry research student noticed a sweet taste on his cigarette that he had set down on his bench. [10] Acesulfame was discovered when a laboratory worker licked his finger. [10] Aspartame was also discovered accidentally when chemist James Schlatter tasted a substance, synthesized in search of a treatment for gastric ulcers, licked his fingers to pick up a paper. [10] [12] Sucralose was discovered by a foreign student, mishearing instructions of his supervisor, Prof. L. Hough, to "test" the compounds as to "taste" them. [10]

Leo Sternbach, the inventor of Librium and Valium, tested chemicals that he made on himself, saying in an interview, "I tried everything. Many drugs. Once, in the sixties, I was sent home for two days. It was an extremely potent drug, not a Benzedrine. I slept for a long time. My wife was very worried." [13]

Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann first discovered the psychedelic properties of LSD five years after its creation, when he accidentally absorbed a small amount of the drug through his fingertips. Days later, he intentionally self-experimented with it. [14]

Chemist Alexander Shulgin synthesized tens of molecules in search of psychoactive materials, and evaluated them via careful self-experimentation together with his wife Ann Shulgin and a small research group of good friends. [15] [16] [17]

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aspartame</span> Artificial non-saccharide sweetener

Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. It is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide with brand names NutraSweet, Equal, and Canderel. Aspartame was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974, and then again in 1981, after approval was revoked in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Shulgin</span> American chemist and recreational drug explorer (1925–2014)

Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin was an American biochemist, broad researcher of synthetic psychoactive compounds, and author of works regarding these, who independently explored the organic chemistry and pharmacology of such agents—in his mid-life and later, many through preparation in his home laboratory, and testing on himself. He is acknowledged to have introduced to broader use, in the late 1970s, the prior synthesized compound, MDMA ("ecstasy") in research psychopharmacology and in combination with conventional therapy, the latter through presentations and academic publications, including to psychologists; and for the rediscovery, occasional discovery, and regular synthesis and personal use and distribution, possibly of hundreds of psychoactive compounds. As such, Shulgin is seen both as a pioneering and a controversial participant in the emergence of the broad use of psychedelics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sugar substitute</span> Sugarless food additive intended to provide a sweet taste

A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may be derived through manufacturing of plant extracts or processed by chemical synthesis. Sugar substitute products are commercially available in various forms, such as small pills, powders, and packets.

<i>PiHKAL</i> 1991 book by Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin

PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story is a book by Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin, published in 1991. The subject of the work is psychoactive phenethylamine chemical derivatives, notably those that act as psychedelics and/or empathogen-entactogens. The main title, PiHKAL, is an acronym that stands for "Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone</span> Chemical compound

Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, sometimes abbreviated to neohesperidin DC or simply NHDC, is an artificial sweetener derived from citrus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ira Remsen</span> American chemist

Ira Remsen was an American chemist who introduced organic chemistry research and education in the United States along the lines of German universities where he received his early training. He was the first professor of chemistry and the second president of Johns Hopkins University. He founded the American Chemical Journal, which he edited from 1879 to 1914. The discovery of Saccharine was made in his laboratory by Constantine Fahlberg who worked in collaboration with Remsen but patented the synthesis on his own, earning the ire of Remsen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saccharin</span> Chemical compound

Saccharin, also called saccharine, benzosulfimide, or E954, or used in saccharin sodium or saccharin calcium forms, is a non-nutritive artificial sweetener. Saccharin is a sultam that is about 500 times sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. It is used to sweeten products, such as drinks, candies, baked goods, tobacco products, excipients, and for masking the bitter taste of some medicines. It appears as white crystals and is odorless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acesulfame potassium</span> Calorie-free sugar substitute

Acesulfame potassium, also known as acesulfame K or Ace K, is a synthetic calorie-free sugar substitute often marketed under the trade names Sunett and Sweet One. In the European Union, it is known under the E number E950. It was discovered accidentally in 1967 by German chemist Karl Clauss at Hoechst AG. Acesulfame potassium is the potassium salt of 6-methyl-1,2,3-oxathiazine-4(3H)-one 2,2-dioxide. It is a white crystalline powder with molecular formula C
4H
4KNO
4S and a molecular weight of 201.24 g/mol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2C-E</span> Chemical compound

2C-E is a psychedelic phenethylamine of the 2C family. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin and documented in his book PiHKAL. Like the other substances in its family, it produces sensory and cognitive effects in its physical reactions with living organisms.

<i>TiHKAL</i> 1997 book by Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin

TIHKAL: The Continuation is a 1997 book written by Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin about a family of psychoactive drugs known as tryptamines. A sequel to PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story, TIHKAL is an acronym that stands for "Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diet soda</span> Type of sugar-free or artificially sweetened soda

Diet or light beverages are generally sugar-free, artificially sweetened beverages with few or no calories. They are marketed for diabetics and other people who want to reduce their sugar and/or caloric intake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychonautics</span> Methodology for describing and explaining the subjective effects of altered states of consciousness

Psychonautics refers both to a methodology for describing and explaining the subjective effects of altered states of consciousness, including those induced by meditation or mind-altering substances, and to a research group in which the researcher voluntarily immerses themselves into an altered mental state in order to explore the accompanying experiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2,5-Dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine</span> Chemical compound

2,5-Dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI) is a psychedelic drug and a substituted amphetamine. Unlike many other substituted amphetamines, however, it is not primarily a stimulant. DOI has a stereocenter and R-(−)-DOI is the more active stereoisomer. In neuroscience research, [125I]-R-(−)-DOI is used as a radioligand and indicator of the presence of 5-HT2A serotonin receptors. DOI's effects have been compared to LSD, although there are differences that experienced users can distinguish. Besides the longer duration, the trip tends to be more energetic than an LSD trip, with more body load and a different subjective visual experience. The after effects include residual stimulation and difficulty sleeping, which, depending on the dose, may persist for days. While rare, it is sometimes sold as a substitute for LSD, or even sold falsely as LSD, which may be dangerous because DOI does not have the same established safety profile as LSD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Shulgin</span> American author (1931–2022)

Laura Ann Shulgin was an American author and the wife of chemist Alexander Shulgin, with whom she wrote PiHKAL and TiHKAL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweetness</span> Basic taste

Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, and sugar alcohols. Some are sweet at very low concentrations, allowing their use as non-caloric sugar substitutes. Such non-sugar sweeteners include saccharin, aspartame, sucralose and stevia. Other compounds, such as miraculin, may alter perception of sweetness itself.

Aftertaste is the taste intensity of a food or beverage that is perceived immediately after that food or beverage is removed from the mouth. The aftertastes of different foods and beverages can vary by intensity and over time, but the unifying feature of aftertaste is that it is perceived after a food or beverage is either swallowed or spat out. The neurobiological mechanisms of taste signal transduction from the taste receptors in the mouth to the brain have not yet been fully understood. However, the primary taste processing area located in the insula has been observed to be involved in aftertaste perception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-experimentation in medicine</span> Practice of researchers trying procedures on themselves

Self-experimentation refers to scientific experimentation in which the experimenter conducts the experiment on themself. Often this means that the designer, operator, subject, analyst, and user or reporter of the experiment are all the same. Self-experimentation has a long and well-documented history in medicine which continues to the present. Some of these experiments have been very valuable and shed new and often unexpected insights into different areas of medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleph (psychedelic)</span> Chemical compound

Aleph is a psychedelic hallucinogenic drug and a substituted amphetamine of the phenethylamine class of compounds, which can be used as an entheogen. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin, who named it after the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In his book PiHKAL, Shulgin lists the dosage range as 5–10 mg, with effects typically lasting for 6 to 8 hours.

Dimethoxyamphetamine (DMA) is a series of six lesser-known psychedelic drugs similar in structure to the three isomers of methoxyamphetamine and six isomers of trimethoxyamphetamine. The isomers are 2,3-DMA, 2,4-DMA, 2,5-DMA, 2,6-DMA, 3,4-DMA, and 3,5-DMA. Three of the isomers were characterized by Alexander Shulgin in his book PiHKAL. Little is known about their dangers or toxicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAS1R2</span> Protein

T1R2 - Taste receptor type 1 member 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TAS1R2 gene.

References

  1. ↑ Martijn De Groot; Mark Drangsholt; Fernando J Martin-Sanchez; Gary Wolf (2017). "Single subject (N-of-1) research design, data processing, and personal science". Methods of Information in Medicine. 56 (6): 416–418. doi:10.3414/ME17-03-0001. PMID   29582912. S2CID   4387788.
  2. ↑ Nils B. Heyen (2020). "From self-tracking to self-expertise: The production of self-related knowledge by doing personal science". Public Understanding of Science. 29 (2): 124–138. doi: 10.1177/0963662519888757 . PMC   7323767 . PMID   31778095. S2CID   208335554.
  3. ↑ Who Goes First?: The Story of Self-Experimentation in Medicine by Lawrence Altman
  4. ↑ Melissa Beattie-Moss (February 4, 2008). "Gut Instincts: A profile of Nobel laureate Barry Marshall". Penn State News.
  5. ↑ "Medical Journal of Australia". Mja.com.au. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
  6. ↑ Van Der Weyden, Martin B; Ruth M Armstrong; Ann T Gregory (2005). "The 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine". Medical Journal of Australia . 183 (11/12): 612–614. PMID   16336147 . Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  7. ↑ Rebecca Ghani (12 April 2011). "Self experimenting doctors". BMJ. 342: d215. doi:10.1136/bmj.d2156. S2CID   80314766.
  8. ↑ David E.K. Hunter, "Daniel and the Rhinoceros", Evaluation and Program Planning Volume 29, Issue 2, May 2006, Pages 180-185 (Program Capacity and Sustainability).
  9. ↑ Ebbinghaus, Hermann (1913). Über das Gedächtnis. Untersuchungen zur experimentellen Psychologie. NY Teachers College.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Gratzer, Walter (28 November 2002). "5. Light on sweetness: the discovery of aspartame". Eurekas and Euphorias: The Oxford Book of Scientific Anecdotes. Oxford University Press. pp.  14–. ISBN   978-0-19-280403-7 . Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "The Pursuit of Sweet". Science History Institute. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  12. ↑ ed. L. D. Stegink and L. J. Filer (1984). "J. M. Schlatter". Aspartame: Physiology and Biochemistry. New York: Marcel Dekker. ISBN   9780824772062.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ↑ "Little Helper", Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, June 16, 2003, pp. 71-72.
  14. ↑ Shroder, Tom (2014-09-09). "'Apparently Useless': The Accidental Discovery of LSD". The Atlantic. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  15. ↑ Shulgin, A T; Shulgin, L A; Jacob, P (1986-05-01). "A protocol for the evaluation of new psychoactive drugs in man". Methods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology. 8 (5): 313–320. ISSN   2013-0155. PMID   3724306.
  16. ↑ Shulgin, Alexander; Shulgin, Ann (1990). PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story. Berkeley: Transform Press. ISBN   9780963009609.
  17. ↑ Shulgin, Alexander; Shulgin, Ann (1997). TiHKAL: The Continuation. Berkeley: Transform Press.

- Hanley et al 2019, "Review of Scientific Self-Experimentation: Ethics History, Regulation, Scenarios, and Views Among Ethics Committees and Prominent Scientists"

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