Maybe They ARE Magic

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, fosters greater connections between different regions of the brain in depressed people, freeing them up from long-held patterns of rumination and excessive self-focus, according to a peer-reviewed study published in Nature Medicine on Monday.

🧠 A deeper dive… Scientists at UC San Francisco and Imperial College London analyzed brain scans of nearly 60 people who had participated in two psilocybin trials and received the same type of psychotherapy.

• Trial #1: In this trial, all the participants had treatment-resistant depression and knew they were being given psilocybin.
• Trial #2: Was a bit different. The participants were depressed but not as severely, and they were not told whether they'd been given psilocybin or a placebo that turned out to be escitalopram, an SSRI antidepressant.

🤔 One interesting thing: Those who underwent psilocybin-assisted therapy experienced noticeable changes in brain patterns associated with depression. No such changes were seen in the brains of those who received escitalopram, suggesting that psilocybin acts differently on the brain than SSRIs.

💊 Zoom out: Psychedelics like MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD — combined with cognitive behavioral therapy — have shown promise for treating a range of addictions and mental health disorders, including treatment-resistant depression and PTSD.

+For us visual learners: 👇