How mushrooms affect your brain?

The active ingredient in magic mushrooms disrupts communication between brain regions. Drugs such as psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms, play all kinds of tricks on the mind. They distort the perception of time, space and self, and even unleash the senses.

Psilocybin

works by activating serotonin receptors, most often in the prefrontal cortex.

This part of the brain affects mood, cognition, and perception. Hallucinogens also work in other brain regions that regulate arousal and panic responses. For this new study, researchers used fMRI with 15 people and looked at the brain region of the cloister after participants took psilocybin or a placebo. They found that psilocybin reduced neuronal activity in the cloister by 15-30%.

This decreased activity also seemed to be associated with stronger subjective effects of the drug, such as emotional and mystical experiences. Researchers also found that psilocybin changed the way the cloister communicated with brain regions involved in hearing, attention, decision-making, and memory. People who stumble upon fungi will experience vivid hallucinations within an hour of ingestion, thanks to the body's breakdown of psilocybin, the natural psychedelic ingredient found in more than 200 species of fungi. Psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, helps “open the brains of depressed people, even weeks after use, says study.

Magic mushrooms should be consumed with caution because the positive or negative effect on the user can be “profound (and uncontrolled) and long-lasting, says expert. When hallucinogenic fungi enter the body, this communication system is disrupted and the way one perceives the world around them changes. DMT has a structure similar to melatonin and serotonin and has properties similar to psychedelic compounds found in magic mushrooms and LSD. Because hallucinogenic and other poisonous fungi are common in most living environments, people should regularly remove all fungi from areas where children are present on a routine basis to avoid accidental consumption.

Psilocybin mushrooms are, in the truest sense, an “entheogen” (translated as “God within us”) and have been used for thousands and thousands of years. Ayahuasca mushrooms, DMT, MDMA and psilocybin can take users on a mind-blowing journey that can open their senses and deepen their connection to the spirit world. Some believe that it is the stumbling block with this sacred mushroom that catalyzed the growth of primitive man's brain, from a typical forager and fruit grower to a hunter-gatherer and, finally, a farmer with the ability to make abstract plans, separating himself from the beast. Scientists believe that psilocybin may reduce the appetite of predatory insects, such as ants, so that they feel full long before they eat all the fungus.

If mushrooms have a higher and stronger dose than expected, this can increase your chances of having a negative experience. Fungi, such as the hallucinogenic freedom cap mushroom or Psilocybe semilanceata, may help treat depression. Scientists at Imperial College London said psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, can help treat symptoms of depression like traditional antidepressant medications effectively. Mushrooms, as they are often called, are quite safe if you know how to distinguish them from other poisonous but similar-looking fungi and if you take them in moderation.

If someone has ingested mushrooms and is experiencing panic, anxiety, or is in danger of harming themselves or others, seek medical help immediately. .

Erika Shipley
Erika Shipley

Subtly charming beer nerd. Extreme internet specialist. Devoted travel junkie. Proud coffee maven. Friendly problem solver.