Magic mushrooms can treat depression: Study

A new study has found that the drug psilocybin found in mushrooms can help treat depression by helping them reset their brains The findings come from a study in which researchers used psilocybin the psychoactive compound that occurs naturally in magic mushrooms to treat a small number of patients with depression in whom conventional treatment had failed In the study the researchers describe patientreported benefits lasting up to five weeks after treatment and believe the psychedelic compound may effectively reset the activity of key brain circuits known to play a role in depressionComparison of images of patients brains before and one day after they received the drug treatment revealed changes in brain activity that were associated with marked and lasting reductions in depressive symptoms The authors note that while the initial results of the experimental therapy are exciting they are limited by the small sample size as well as the absence of a control group such as a placebo group to directly contrast with the patientsDr Robin CarhartHarris Head of Psychedelic Research at Imperial who led the study said We have shown for the first time clear changes in brain activity in depressed people treated with psilocybin after failing to respond to conventional treatments Several of our patients described feeling reset after the treatment and often used computer analogies For example one said he felt like his brain had been defragged like a computer hard drive and another said he felt rebooted Psilocybin may be giving these individuals the temporary kick start they need to break out of their depressive states and these imaging results do tentatively support a reset analogy Similar brain effects to these have been seen with electroconvulsive therapyOver the last decade or so a number of clinical trials have been conducted into the safety and effectiveness of psychedelics in patients with conditions such as depression and addictions yielding promising results In the recent Imperial trial the first with psilocybin in depression 20 patients with treatmentresistant form of the disorder were given two doses of psilocybin 10 mg and 25 mg with the second dose a week after the firstNineteen of these underwent initial brain imaging and then a second scan one day after the high dose treatment CarhartHarris and team used two main brain imaging methods to measure changes in blood flow and the crosstalk between brain regions with patients reporting their depressive symptoms through completing clinical questionnaires Immediately following treatment with psilocybin patients reported a decrease in depressive symptoms corresponding with anecdotal reports of an afterglow effect characterised by improvements in mood and stress relief Functional MRI imaging revealed reduced blood flow in areas of the brain including the amygdala a small almondshaped region of the brain known to be involved in processing emotional responses stress and fearThey also found increased stability in another brain network previously linked to psilocybins immediate effects as well as to depression itself These findings provide a new window into what happens in the brains of people after they have come down from a psychedelic where an initial disintegration of brain networks during the drug trip is followed by a reintegration afterwards Dr CarhartHarris explained Through collecting these imaging data we have been able to provide a window into the after effects of psilocybin treatment in the brains of patients with chronic depression Based on what we know from various brain imaging studies with psychedelics as well as taking heed of what people say about their experiences it may be that psychedelics do indeed reset the brain networks associated with depression effectively enabling them to be lifted from the depressed stateThe authors warn that while the initial findings are encouraging the research is at an early stage and that patients with depression should not attempt to selfmedicate as the team provided a special therapeutic context for the drug experience and things may go awry if the extensive psychological component of the treatment is neglected The research has been published in the journal Scientific Reports