Psilocybin (drug): effects of this psychoactive compound

The functioning of the human brain is highly complex, and this implies that a wide variety of substances and chemical elements participate in it. Normally, these tiny compounds work in a coordinated way, maintaining a certain balance in mental processes. However, there are some substances that, when they arrive from outside the body, totally alter the functioning of neurons.

Psilocybin is one of those compounds that, by entering the nervous system, profoundly affect its overall functioning. Specifically, it is famous for its psychoactive effect.

In this article we will see what psilocybin is, what its effects are, and why hallucinogenic mushrooms that contain it have become popular.

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What is psilocybin?

Psilocybin is an alkaloid that found naturally in certain types of mushrooms, which are known to be hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The consumption of these mushrooms as a recreational drug It is due to its hallucinogenic effects, which lead many people to ingest mushrooms for the mere interest that these experiences arouse; some users define it as dreaming or becoming aware of other realities, using a lexicon linked to mysticism.

However, the effects of psilocybin do not need to be explained by mentalistic and dualistic beliefs. In fact, although it is not known exactly what happens when this substance enters the brain, yes The basic mechanisms by which they cause transient syndromes based on the hallucinations Let's see.

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How does it work in the brain?

The brain is, in part, made up of neurons, which communicate with each other exchanging a series of chemicals called neurotransmitters. The amount and timing with which a neuron receives different types of neurotransmitters determines what its pattern will be activation, which in turn will be "passed in chain" to other nerve cells that will end up releasing neurotransmitters, etc.

Psilocybin causes at least one of these neurotransmitters, the serotonin, have more intense effects on certain neurons. Let's say this psychoactive compound has a serotonin agonist effect, as it causes more receptors neuronal that trigger a type of activation that should only occur when this substance is present in quantities normal.

The fact that these neurons receive orders from serotonin that are untimely and they do not start from the balance that the organism itself maintains, it causes hallucinations to appear.

The effects of psilocinin

The main effects of psilocybin start between 15 and 50 minutes after orally consuming the substance (although it also depends on the state of the stomach), and can last up to 8 hours. They are as follows.

Change the perception of time

There are studies that suggest that among the common effects of this psychoactive substance is the different experimentation of the passage of time, causing it to pass faster or slower than normal, or even creating moments of confusion by giving the impression that a loop has been entered temporary.

Expand neural connectivity

Psilocybin makes parts of the brain that are not normally very connected to each other start exchanging signals more frequently. This causes the quality of the perception of the environment to change completely.

It is, on a large scale, something that is quite similar to what happens in people with synesthesia, a phenomenon by which sensory modalities mix with each other making, for example, that certain sounds are perceived while evoking the perception of a different color for each of them.

Specifically, some of the parts of the brain in which signs of greater connectivity are seen are the hippocampus and the cingulate cortex, areas related to the storage of memories belonging to declarative memory, on the one hand, and to the experimentation of emotions and the creation of plans, on the other.

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Causes hallucinations

It is the central characteristic of psilocybin as an element belonging to psychoactive drugs. These hallucinations they can be visual, auditory, tactile and of all kinds.

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Generate mystical experiences

The hallucinations that occur with psilocybin are not just "movies" that the user watches as a viewer. On many occasions the person who has eaten hallucinogenic mushrooms becomes emotionally involved with what I see, listen and play, to the point of believing that everything is as or more real than what he experienced before taking the drug.

This causes some of the hallucinations to be interpreted as divine revelations, or breaks in reality, through which another alternative reality appears.

Its long-term effects: personality changes

There is evidence that the consumption of psilocybin is capable of producing permanent changes in the mental processes of the user. Specifically, changes in personality. Usually these changes are linked to a tendency to be curious about the new, surely motivated by experiences related to hallucinations.

Does it have therapeutic potential?

Research is currently being conducted that seeks to explore the possible therapeutic potential of psilocybin and other compounds of hallucinogenic substances and drugs such as LSD. However, due to its recent nature (until not so long ago, in many countries it was not allowed to investigate along this line), there are still no conclusive results, although there are reasons to believe that these resources may be useful in clinical practice in the future.