Psychedelic or ‘magic’ mushrooms have been ingested by humans for over 9000 years.
Even today, this naturally grown fungus is commonly used as a recreational drug, causing
hallucinations, but how exactly does it work?
The main psychoactive ingredient in shrooms is call psilocybin. When ingested, the body
breaks it down into the active drug psilocin, which makes its way to the brain. And here,
it begins to prevent the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin, increasing its activity. On top
of this, psilocin actually has a similar chemical structure to serotonin, meaning it can also
bind to and stimulate receptors in the brain. This amplified stimulation causes you to perceive
and experience things without any real stimulus - also know as hallucination. These can be
of a varying nature, from visual to auditory sensations, or mystical and insightful feelings.
And while the experience can be quite enjoyable, some users have reported very unpleasant episodes.
These feelings generally last between 3-8 hours, but could feel much longer as the drug
alters your sense of time.
Scientists have also suggested that the brain may temporarily rearrange itself by inhibiting
normal brain activity and immediately creating new biologically stable brain connections.
This, ultimately, makes it harder to determine reality from fantasy, and amplifies your intensity
of thought which makes planning ahead and self conscious thinking almost impossible.
We also see activation in the hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex which are associated
with dreaming. *Finally, specific emotional regions of the brain are chemically activated,
which can lead to a sense of expanding consciousness. And because the drug temporarily alters the
paths in your brain, ‘thinking outside of the box’ becomes extremely natural.
In a famous US study, 36 college educated participants were given psilocybin and observed
in a laboratory. 1/3rd of the participants reported the experience as the single most
spiritually significant moment in their lives, with ⅔rds putting it in their top five.
Two months after taking the drug, 79% of the participants reported increased well-being
and satisfaction. Friends and family were also interviewed and agreed with these claims.
But it’s not all so positive - 22% of the clinically tested individuals experienced
fear and paranoia at certain points during their trip. And because of the state of their
brains, these typically manifested as terrifying and uncontrollable hallucinations. *L
Though much is still unknown about shrooms, they’re not considered clinically addictive
and cause little toxicity to other organ systems. In fact, a UK study found that they cause
the least amount of damage - both to the individual and others - when compared to other recreational
drugs. Ultimately, scientists believe the laws need to change around clinical testing
of the drug so advanced research can be executed to fully understand both the positive and
negative effects that this “magic” fungus has on our brains.
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