When we talk about hallucinogenic mushrooms we immediately think of natural substances that "get high" and for this reason they are used for fun and certainly not for curative purposes. Following an English research we should probably change our mind: an active principle present in "magic" mushrooms would in fact be active against depression.
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When you are talking about hallucinogenic mushrooms one immediately thinks of natural substances that "get high" and for this reason they are used for fun and certainly not for curative purposes. Following an English research, we should probably change our mind: an active principle present in "magic" mushrooms would in fact be active against the depression.
The study was carried out by a research team from Imperial College London and published in Scientific Report. The experts used a psychoactive compound found in hallucinogenic mushrooms to treat a small group of depression patients with whom the more classic treatments had not worked.
Specifically, the 20 depressed patients were given two doses of psilocybin, that is the psychedelic active ingredient of hallucinogenic mushrooms, the first of 10 mg and after a week the second of 25 mg. Thus it was found that in a short time and up to 5 weeks after treatment, patients reported fewer depressive symptoms.
This would be due to the fact that psilocybin is able to act in the brain by performing a sort of reset, thus restoring the activity of the key brain circuits fundamental for depression. It was possible to evaluate this by subjecting the brains of the patients, before and after the therapy, to an MRI which revealed significant changes in brain activity following the intake of the two doses of psilocybin.
Research leader Robin Carhart-Harris said the experiment:
“It showed clear changes in brain activity for the first time in depressed people treated with psilocybin. Some of our patients described the feeling of having 'reset' after treatment and often used this analogy to computer language because what they felt was that their brains had been 'defragmented' and 'rebooted', ready for a new life " .
In essence, what psilocybin would be able to do is to restore the brain to a condition prior to that of the onset of depression. It has also been shown that this substance is able to reduce blood flow in the 'emotional' region of the brain.
These are obviously the first results of an experimental therapy carried out among other things on too few people to be able to speak of certainties. But, although certainly worth investigating, the effect of hallucinogenic mushrooms on depression is promising. And it is not even the first time that their potential has been highlighted.
Read also:
- MAGIC MUSHROOMS: MUSHROOMS TO EXPAND THE MIND AND CURE DEPRESSION?
- MAGIC MUSHROOMS: ONE DOSE OF PSYLOBYCIN IS ENOUGH TO BECOME DISINHIBITED AND HELP DEPRESSION
For several years now, Dr. Carhart-Harris has been finalizing his studies and doing his utmost to reveal the mechanisms that psilocybin triggers within our brain, obviously with the aim of understanding what its benefits and possible uses in the field could be. doctor.
