Magic Mushrooms and The Brain
The world of fungi is absolutely incredible. From delicious portobello mushrooms on our plates to deadly fungi that can kill you with just a small bite – It seems that the possibilities are endless. If that wasn’t enough, there is a whole suite of mushrooms that have bioactive compounds with profound effects on our brain chemistry. These mysterious, or you might say magical, mushrooms have been a part of our history for thousands of years and are now making leaps and bounds in “new” therapies. It turns out that a better way to approach mental health might not be to load the brain up with serotonin, but change the way our brain regions interact with one another so that we can gain new perspectives. This is essentially what magic mushrooms allow us to do. Here’s a look at magic mushrooms and the brain:
What Are Magic Mushrooms?
Magic mushrooms is an umbrella term for around 200 species of fungi that contain psilocybin and psilocin. One of the most famous is Psilocybe cubensis – known as the golden teachers.
We covered Everything You Need to Know About Psilocybin Mushrooms in a previous post, but today is a bit more of a dive into the biology behind how it works in your brain.
Magic Mushrooms and The Human Brain
Though in much of the world magic mushrooms are quite controversial, and in many places still considered an illegal substance, humans have a long history with their use. This is especially true about their use in spiritual rituals and traditional healing practices.
There are even theories that part of the “big leap” in our brain’s evolution which took us from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens came from hominids consuming magic mushrooms. This “Stoned Ape Theory” by Terence McKenna is not widely accepted, but it also has some support. If anything it is an interesting theory.
But why would this theory make sense at all? Well, it has a lot to do with psilocybin’s effect on neuroplasticity. You see, mushrooms don’t just make you “see music” or “taste colors” – which happens for an interesting reason that we will get to in a moment – but it actually increases your brain’s ability to make more connections across different regions of the brain. This increased connectivity can help our brain to be more “neuroplastic,” which is a fancy way for saying flexible and in shape.
It turns out that these impacts on the brain can be extremely useful in therapies for improving mental health. These benefits are why these therapies are beginning to become legal in more and more parts of the world. As a kind of positive feedback loop, the growing legality of these therapies also make it a lot easier for scientists to research and better understand the neuroscience behind their benficial impact on our brains.
So, what is happening inside your brain when you take a psilocybin mushroom?
The Neuroscience Of Magic Mushrooms
When you eat a magic mushroom you take in the psilocybin, which is usually about 1% of its dried weight (though this varies of course). In your body this psilocybin actually quickly converts to psilocin. This bioactive compound does quite a few things, but these are the three major effects that make psilocybin a therapeutic compound:
- Influence on serotonin receptors
- Increased cross talk of brain regions
- Decreasing the default mode network
We will briefly talk about the mechanism here and explain below how it can be beneficial.
Serotonin receptors
Once in your bloodstream, psilocin connects to one of the serotonin receptors in your brain known as the 5HD2A receptor. If you didn’t know, serotonin is often known as one of the “feel good hormones.” This happy chemical is responsible for a lot of our mental health. The binding of this bioactive component to this receptor opens up the ion channel and allows for the flow of serotonin.
Cross Talk
Psilocin increases “cross talk” across brain regions. Usually the regions of our brains are connected and have some signals moving between them, but after taking psilocybin your brain activity is greatly increased. This means that the regions of your brain share a lot more signals than usual. This is where the mix up of senses (why can I see the music?!) occurs during a “trip.” Interestingly, increased connectivity can also have positive implications for therapies.
Default Mode Network
Interestingly enough, psilocin also reduces activity and connectivity in what is known as the default mode network. This network of various brain regions is involved in our sense of self, introspection, and self-referential thinking. This network is turned on when thinking about memories, about yourself, when planning for the future, and so on. A decrease in these sensations might sound a little disconcerting at first, but this is also a good thing in a way – read on to see why.
How Does Psilocybin Therapy Work?
So how do the three main effects of psilocybin in the brain translate to therapy? When used with intentionality alongside an expert, the way that psilocin reacts with your brain can help people reach breakthroughs in their mental health.
Turning up The Serotonin
SSRI’s – one of the most common antidepressant drugs, prevent serotonin from being taken back up by neurons. This means there is more serotonin available in the system, but this isn’t always effective (about 53 to 64% of the time). Psilocybin on the other hand, interacts directly with one of the key serotonin receptors and causes a better flow of serotonin in your system. More serotonin can help you feel way better in many aspects. Research so far has shown a 64% success rate in Psilocybin therapies.
Let’s Cross Talk About It
Has anyone ever told you that you might feel better about something if you had a more open mind? Well, they may have been on to something. The increased activity in your brain and boost in neuroplasticity can help us to learn new things better and to see our world in new ways.
This can help us
- Be more receptive to change,
- Find novel solutions to old problems,
- Have a more open outlook in general.
Dimming The Default Mode Network
The suppression of the Default Mode Network is also sometimes known as ego dissolution. A decreased sense of self can help people to feel more connected to the world around them. It can also help people to break patterns of self-criticism and overthinking. An overactive default mode network has indeed been connected to mental health orders like depression and OCD for example. So in short, giving the default mode network a break can help us take on new lighter perspectives about our place in the world.
Additional benefits
The other great thing about psilocybin therapy is it is not a pill you have to take every day. Some of the top psilocybin researchers at John Hopkins for example have shown that just taking two to three high doses of magic mushrooms along with therapy can have lasting effects on mental health.
Wrap Up
Magic mushrooms are fungi containing bioactive compounds that have profound impacts on our brain chemistry. These interactions make them incredible tools for therapies to improve mental health. Research has shown us that their influence on serotonin receptors, brain cross talk, and the default mode network can result in very interesting benefits for our mental health. When taken with intention and therapy these mushrooms can really help people feel better!
You can also check out some of our other blogs posts on magic mushrooms:
