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Breaking the 'magic mushrooms' appear to change the brain in such a way, like antidepressants, the study found.
"We're not saying go out there and eat magic mushrooms," says Professor David Nutt, neuropsychopharmacology researcher at Imperial College London and lead author of both studies, told Reuters. "But ... this drug has such a major impact on the brain, it must be significant. - It must be giving us something about how the brain works"
The first of these studies, published in the Jan. 23 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, with 30 healthy volunteers and infusion shrooms active 'ingredient - called psilocybin - into their bloodstream while they lay in the MRI machine. The researchers looked at brain examination of volunteers , which showed a reduction in the level of activity in the regions, "mushrooms" in the brain that connect areas responsible for the sense of identity, and organizing sensory information that constantly floods the brain.
The second study - to be published in the Jan. 25 issue of British Journal of Psychiatry - gave 10 volunteers in MRI machines made in writing to look at the challenge, which is to reflect on their memories. Then the researchers gave psilocybin volunteers and found that it is better memories of their personal memories. Their brain scans reflected the changes in those brain regions that process sensory information and vision
Researchers claim that psilocybin could be an effective adjunct to psychotherapy.
"Psychedelics are thought of as" mind-expanding "drugs, so it's commonly assumed that they work by increasing brain activity, but surprisingly, we found that psilocybin actually caused by reduced activity in areas that have dense connections with other areas , "Nutt said in a written statement. "These charges reduce our perception of the world and to maintain order. We now know that the deactivation of these regions leads to a situation in which the world is perceived as foreign."
The study raises several questions - besides who would want to voluntarily go to the MRI machine, while on magic mushrooms. One can imagine that psychedelic mushrooms are used to treat depression, people?
Researchers say that the biology of the brain could provide some clues. One of the centers of the brain that have been shown to be affected in the study - medial prefrontal cortex - is found to be hyperactive in people with depression. So the influence of psilocybin in this area could lead to mimic antidepressant "effects. It was also found that psilocybin slow blood flow to the brain, the hypothalamus. If the increase in blood flow to the hypothalamus, most people experience headaches, so it might explain why some volunteers reported feeling better after "shrooming."
In 2011, a study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology showed people that psychedelic mushrooms experienced personality changes, reflecting the increased "openness" to other senses and emotions, according HealthPop. Some participants in this study was higher and anxiety, however.
''This is a research tool that can give us insights into how to treat depression,''Nutt said the Telegraph. But he warned,''I would strongly defend their own people we treat.''
Cops would agree with Nutt on this point. According to the U.S. Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center, psilocybin is illegal drug classified as a Schedule I substance along with heroin and LSD.
