Magic mushrooms just may not be only for followers of jam bands like Phish and Widespread Panic anymore. Turns out there might be more to mushrooms than swirling kaleidoscope auras and Willy Wonka-like hallucinations.
Researchers at the Imperial College London have discovered that psychedelic mushrooms have properties that can subside depression.
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. It was a small sample of only 19 people. There was not a control group.
Doctors provided two doses of psychedelic mushrooms — one at 10 mg, and one at 25 mg —a week apart. Subjects had an fMRI brain scan before and after the mushrooms were administered.
“We have shown for the first time clear changes in brain activity depressed people treated with psilocybin after failing to respond to conventional treatments,” said Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, Head of Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, who conducted the study.
When study participants had their brains scanned after taking the mushrooms, showed that magic mushrooms have the power to “reset” the brain for people with untreatable depression. Study participants reported “rebooted” brains, like the reseting of a computer’s hard drive. Half of those patients felt antidepressant effects, lasting for about five weeks.
The active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms is psilocybin, which affects the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for memory, fear, emotional reactions, anxiety, and decision-making. The ingredient also affects the default-mode network, a conglomerate of different brain regions.
There are about 200 species of mushrooms considered to be psychedelic because they contain psilocybin and the other active ingredient, psilocin.
However, more research is required, including a larger sample as well as placebo controls.
As for me, I’ve only done shrooms once. I was in college visiting a friend at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and we went to a concert by a Doors cover band. These kind of mushrooms taste nasty, so I downed it with some grape soda. I was afraid so I ate only half a mushroom, and it didn’t do anything more than give me a pleasant body buzz.
So for recreational use, I’ll leave it to the Phishheads.
