Scientists are pulling back the curtain on the mysterious mechanism behind magic mushrooms’ therapeutic effects. Tripping on psilocybin — the psychedelic compound found in shrooms — triggers widespread changes in the brain, some of which can last for weeks, according to new human research.
During a trip, neuron networks involved in intra-brain communication, memory, sense of space, time, and self become “desynchronized” in a swirl of abnormal activity, as shown in the study published July 17 in the journal Nature. Further, the level of changes in these neuronal systems corresponds with the intensity of a psychedelic experience, and though most of the brain returns to baseline within hours, some small changes persist for three weeks, per the research.
Previous clinical studies have demonstrated that psilocybin can offer long-term reprieve from symptoms for people with depression, help those struggling with addiction, and even relieve end-of-life anxiety for people with terminal illnesses. Research in animal and petri dish models have shown that the fungal compound seems to induce neuroplasticity, or flexibility in neurons, allowing for strong, potentially detrimental connections to separate and for new ones to form.
