More on the Therapeutic Potential of Mushrooms

Fred Barrett, a neuroscientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, discusses the revolutionary healing potential of psilocybin, what is not yet known about the compound’s role in treating various psychiatric disorders, the importance of the “therapy” aspect of psychedelic-assisted therapy, and the hurdles that remain to this treatment being accessible to the general public.

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Psilocybin Mushrooms and Bipolar Disorder

A new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology is the first to characterize the psychological impacts of psilocybin among people with bipolar disorder.

The findings indicate that many people with bipolar disorder who consume psilocybin, the primary psychoactive component of psychedelic “magic mushrooms,” believe that the experience is helpful. However, many also report adverse outcomes, such as manic symptoms.

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Mushrooms and Christmas?

Some historians believe that mushrooms may have sprouted several mainstream Christmas traditions.

As Salon recently reported, the concept of Santa may have been inspired by indigenous Siberian and Northern European shamans who traveled around conducting healing ceremonies during the winter solstice using a type of hallucinogenic mushroom called amanita muscaria, or the fly agaric.

What do you think?!

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How Psilocybin May Rewire the Brain

“One of the most interesting things we’ve learned about the classic psychedelics is that they have a dramatic effect on the way brain systems synchronize, or move and groove together,” said Matthew Johnson, a professor in psychedelics and consciousness at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

“When someone’s on psilocybin, we see an overall increase in connectivity between areas of the brain that don’t normally communicate well,” Johnson said. “You also see the opposite of that – local networks in the brain that normally interact with each other quite a bit suddenly communicate less.”

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Evidence on Mushroom Intelligence

A body of remarkable experiments have shown that fungi operate as individuals, engage in decision-making, are capable of learning, and possess short-term memory.

These findings highlight the spectacular sensitivity of such ‘simple’ organisms, and situate the human version of the mind within a spectrum of consciousness that might well span the entire natural world.

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