Magic mushrooms have managed to restart the brain in people with severe depression and the symptoms disappear.
To the list of current drugs to treat depression could soon be added a substance called psilocybin (also known as 5-MeO-DMT) present in magic mushrooms, after a team of researchers from Imperial College London (United Kingdom) has managed to ‘restart’ brain activity and reduce symptoms of severe depression in patients whose traditional treatment had not worked.
Patients experienced the beneficial effect of the psychoactive compound of magic mushrooms up to 5 weeks after treatment, so the authors believe that psilocybin can effectively restore the activity of key brain circuits involved in depression.
A comparison of MAGNETIC resonance imaging of patients’ brains before and after receiving drug treatment revealed changes in brain activity that were associated with marked and lasting reductions in depressive symptoms.
“Several of our patients describe the feeling of ‘reset’ after treatment, as well as other similar computer analogies. For example, one of them said it felt like his brain had been defragmented like a computer hard drive, and another said he felt ‘reset’. Psilocybin may be giving these individuals the temporary ‘reset’ they need to get out of their depressive states,” explains Robin Carhart-Harris, leader of the paper.
In the experiment, the first of its kind to use psilocybin in patients with depression, 20 volunteers with severe depression received two doses of psilocybin (10 mg and 25 mg), giving them the second dose a week after the first.
19 patients underwent a brain scan before treatment and then a second scan one day after high-dose treatment. The scientists measured changes in blood flow and crosstalk between brain regions, and patients also reported on their status by conducting clinical questionnaires.
Immediately after treatment with psilocybin, volunteers claimed to experience a decrease in depressive symptoms, which corresponds to an improvement in mood and stress relief.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed reduced blood flow in areas of the brain, including the amygdala (involved in processing emotional responses, stress, and fear). They also found greater stability in another brain network, previously linked to the immediate effects of psilocybin, as well as depression itself.
“Through the collection of these imaging data we have been able to provide a response to the after-effects of psilocybin treatment on the brains of patients with chronic depression. Based on what we know from various brain imaging studies with psychedelics, as well as taking into account what people say about their experiences, it may be that psychedelics actually shut down the brain networks associated with depression, allowing them to eliminate the state of depression.”
It is true that in the last decade a series of clinical trials have been carried out on the safety and efficacy of psychedelics in patients with disorders such as depression and addictions, which yields really promising results.
The authors note that while the initial results of the experimental therapy are encouraging, they are limited by the small sample size, as well as the absence of a control group, to contrast directly with patients, so people with depression should not attempt to self-medicate. Next year a new study will begin with a much larger sample.
