Single Dose of Magic Mushroom Psychedelic Can Cause Anatomical Brain Changes 7
A small study found that a single 25mg dose of psilocybin produced measurable brain changes that were still visible a month later, along with reported improvements in psychological insight, wellbeing, and mental flexibility. The Guardian reports: Evidence for the changes came from specialized scans that measured the diffusion of water along nerve bundles in the brain. They suggested that some nerve tracts had become denser and more robust after the drug was taken. While the findings are preliminary, the scientists said the opposite was seen in ageing and dementia. "It's remarkable to see potential anatomical brain changes one month after a single dose of any drug," said Prof Robin Carhart-Harris, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and senior author on the study. "We don't yet know what these changes mean, but we do note that overall, people showed positive psychological changes in this study, including improved wellbeing and mental flexibility."
[...] Writing in Nature Communications, the researchers describe another key finding. Those who had the largest spike in brain entropy after psilocybin were most likely to report deeper psychological insight and better wellbeing a month later, underlining the link between flexible thinking and improved mental health. "It suggests a psychobiological therapeutic action for psilocybin," said Carhart-Harris. Prof Alex Kwan, a neuroscientist at Cornell University in New York, said studies in mice had shown that psychedelics can rewire connections between nerves, a form of "plasticity" that could underlie their therapeutic effects. The big question is whether the same occurs in humans. "This study comes closer than most to addressing that question, by giving evidence of lasting changes in brain structure after psychedelic use," he said. But while the results were "exciting," the study involved a small number of people and DTI provides an indirect and limited view of brain connections, he said.
[...] Writing in Nature Communications, the researchers describe another key finding. Those who had the largest spike in brain entropy after psilocybin were most likely to report deeper psychological insight and better wellbeing a month later, underlining the link between flexible thinking and improved mental health. "It suggests a psychobiological therapeutic action for psilocybin," said Carhart-Harris. Prof Alex Kwan, a neuroscientist at Cornell University in New York, said studies in mice had shown that psychedelics can rewire connections between nerves, a form of "plasticity" that could underlie their therapeutic effects. The big question is whether the same occurs in humans. "This study comes closer than most to addressing that question, by giving evidence of lasting changes in brain structure after psychedelic use," he said. But while the results were "exciting," the study involved a small number of people and DTI provides an indirect and limited view of brain connections, he said.
scares me too much ill never do that (Score:1)
Re: scares me too much ill never do that (Score:2)
Isn't it quite uncommon that substances are forced into people? There's a whole debate about the vaccines but I am not aware of anyone being forced to be vaccinated. It's just that some doors close if you don't get vaccinated. This might change from one country/state to another. Is it common in psychotherapy that people are forced to take substances?
Re: (Score:1)
Why would we do that? When it comes to large scale deployment of mind-altering drugs, chemtrails are so much easier. Did you think you came to the conclusion that the earth is flat and vaccines are bad all on your own? You wish. You will believe whatever suits us. Nothing more, nothing less.
Re: scares me too much ill never do that (Score:2)
I believe that in the US, under current law anyway, "forcing" such medication on a patient would be illegal, malpractice, and anathema to any normal practitioner.
I'll admit that there are corner cases where some patients are forcibly medicated (I know of none where psilocybin is used), but simple walking-around-really-depressed isn't going to rise to a forced medication scenario.
I'll offer a couple more thoughts:
1. If it's the 'tripping' part that scares you, they're working on subcomponents of the drug tha
Re: scares me too much ill never do that (Score:2)
One more thought:
Your thoughts and emotions also get changed and rewired by:
Reading books
Seeing lectures
Talking to people
Practicing an instrument
Doing math
Falling in love
Having and/or caring for a kid
And a whole bunch more.
Hope you're not willing to give all that up out of fear.
Re: scares me too much ill never do that (Score:2)
The way you describe it isn't really how it works. It doesn't rewire your brain in an active sense so much as introduce elasticity for your brain to rewire itself. This is especially useful when the brain has gotten itself into a doom loop of depression or anxiety. The psilocybin allows you to break out of the doom loop and start your brain on the path of healthy development.