Magic Mushrooms To Be Used In The Treatment Of Depression?

Following a new study on the effects of magic mushrooms as a treatment for depression, the psychoactive agent psilocybin within the mushroom can be used as part of the solution. 

The study was conducted at the American Ivy League research university, Yale. Researchers looked at the psychoactive ingredient and administered it to mice at trials. 

When given to the mice, the psilocybin increases neuron size density in the front cortex by up to 10%, culminating in ‘structural remodelling’ and positive messages being sent to the brain. 

READ: Tripping on psychedelic drugs explained | Mr. Afterparty (mrafterparty.com) 

Professor of psychiatry and neuroscience, Alex Kwan said: “Psilocybin is fascinating because it has an incredibly short half-life, which means that it gets out of the body quickly and yet has long-lasting behavioural effects,” 

Adding: “We’ve seen that psilocybin can be effective in treating depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders. In this study, we wanted to investigate this mystery by observing individual connections in the mouse brain.”

There have been several studies around this subject over the last few years, as funding has increased and the search for effective treatments for use in mental health continues to grow. 

Psilocybin has also been found to be effective in the treatment of PTSD.