Magic mushrooms, once reviled for their hallucinogenic properties, are increasingly being used to alter the mind. As a treatment Wide variety Mental health issues.
However, surprisingly little is known about the diverse neurological effects of fungal psychoactive compounds. PsilocybinTherefore, it is difficult to predict what benefits this drug will ultimately bring to society as a medicine.
The study, led by psychiatrist Joshua Siegel of the Washington University School of Medicine, looked at seven healthy adults who were given high doses of PsilocybinThey identified disruptions in connectivity in several brain regions that persisted for weeks.
The discovery fills a gap in our understanding of how psilocybin’s biochemical effects lead to large-scale changes in behavior that can help or hinder individuals with a variety of psychological needs.
“Recently, we’ve learned a lot about the psychological and molecular and cellular effects of psilocybin,” Siegel says.
“But we don’t know much about what happens at the level that connects the two – at the level of functional brain networks.”
Magic mushrooms exert their allure by mimicking the affinity of serotonin. 5-HT2A receptorThe subjective effects are well known and are typically associated with a feeling of euphoria. Distorted self-perceptionTime, space, sound, color.
Animal models Areas with a high density of these receptors, e.g. Medial frontal lobecreates long-term effects by loosening hard-wired pathways and encouraging new connections.
This is exactly “Plasticity” of the Nervous System Because it makes our brains adaptable, psilocybin is an attractive medicine for treating mental conditions that are stubbornly resistant to change.
But it’s unclear whether the same conclusions apply to humans, so Siegel and his team looked into functional Magnetic resonance imaging Participants were scanned before ingesting a full dose of 25 milligrams of psilocybin, then again immediately after ingestion and 21 days later.
For comparison, subjects were also given 40 milligrams of stimulant. Methylphenidate A similar series of scans were taken on separate occasions.
The scans revealed a significant disruption of functional connectivity across the brain cortex after psilocybin administration, including a group of areas deep in the brain that are most active when you’re awake but not doing anything – the so-called “brain cortex.” Default Mode Network (DMN).
based on Previous research In their rat study, the researchers speculated that the widespread disruptions may result from a loss of synchronization between populations of neurons that normally coordinate their activity, temporarily losing the unique patterns that give rise to a sense of self.
“The brains of people who took psilocybin appear to be more similar to each other than to their awake selves,” says neuroscientist and senior author Nico Doesnbach.
“Their individuality disappears temporarily, which proves on a neuroscientific level what people say about losing your sense of self while tripping.”
Interestingly, administering psilocybin to subjects and then performing a simple auditory-visual matching task while being scanned appeared to “stabilize” their DMN and reduce the degree of disruption.
Scans taken three weeks after psilocybin treatment showed that the cortex had largely returned to pre-treatment synchrony, but an area called the anterior hippocampus The range of cognitive processes Persistent functional changes related to perception and memory continued to emerge.
Combining knowledge of psilocybin’s pharmacology with self-reported and cultural knowledge of its effects within a neurological framework may lead to treatments that alleviate symptoms. depression or reduce Post-traumatic stressOr, they serve as a way to warn against use in situations where interruption could pose significant risk.
While it may be a while before we go to the doctor and start taking mushrooms to get our brains functioning properly, studies like this bring us one step closer to understanding this intriguing relationship with the brain. A group of magical fungi.
This study Nature.
