The effect of magic mushrooms on body and brain

Science Jeanette Walsh
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Recent studies into the effect of psilocybin, the magic mushrooms psychoactive ingredient, shows that it may be a key element to help those suffering from severe anxiety and depression. So far, because of the mushrooms being classified as a Schedule 1 drug, which means they official have no medical use and are illegal, efforts to study them and show how they affect the body had been slow.

Studies made by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the use of magic mushrooms could lead to feelings of relaxation similar to those given by the use of marijuana. Like most psychotropic drugs, such as LSD, the effects of magic mushrooms are achieved by affecting the neural highways that produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter, which are in the prefrontal cortex, part of the brain in charge of mood and perception, abstract thinking and thought analysis.

This will cause hallucinations, many people claiming to hear colors or seeing sounds. Is in these hallucinations that the scientist hope to unlock the secrets of easing and curing depression.

Controlled clinical trials into the effects of psilocybin on people dealing with depression showed that in the future, a single dose of the drug can be a very powerful tool in their treatment.

One person who participated in such a trial, Nick Fernandez, said that when he took the dose he was set on an emotional journey that allowed him for find “a force greater than myself.”

“Something inside me snapped and I realized all my anxieties, defenses and insecurities weren’t something to worry about,” he said to Aeon Magazine.

New York University psychotherapist Jeffrey Guss found similar results in many other patients and thinks that this should be “considered part of the healing process.”