Researcher Takes Mushrooms for Scientific Study, Sees His Brain ‘FALL APART’

A scientist said he saw his brain “fall apart” after taking psychedelic drugs as part of a new clinical trial.

Dr. Nico Dosenbach of the University of Washington was one of seven participants in an experiment that examined how participants responded to taking psilocybin, the main active ingredient in magic mushrooms.

The neuroscientist reported an enhanced “sense of self” as the drug took effect and had an almost religious experience that left him believing he “was the universe.”

The study’s findings provided a rare glimpse into how these drugs can provide lasting relief to people suffering from depression, anxiety and other mental disorders.

“My sense of self-worth expanded as if I were the universe,” Dr. Dosenbach said CNNin which he talks about his experiences with the use of psilocybin.

‘Other people said they saw God, and if I was very religious I could see that, but for me it was more like, “Oh, I am the universe.”

Psilocybin affects the part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is responsible for reflecting on thoughts and experiences that help people define their self-image.

This is similar to the way antidepressants target the brain to break the “negative thought cycle or stuck thoughts that can occur with depression,” study co-author Ginger Nichol told CNN.

Psilocybin remains illegal in most of the US, but the Food and Drug Administration approved it in 2018 as a “breakthrough therapeutic” drug for clinical trials for the treatment of major depression.

Dr. Dosenbach was part of the psilocybin group that received 25 milligrams of the drug, while some participants received 40 milligrams of Ritalin – a stimulant prescribed to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The neuroscientist said he was not told in the new study whether he was receiving psilocybin or the stimulant.

“No one in the study knew whether they had taken psilocybin or Ritalin until the effect started. We chose this as a placebo because it also has a stimulating effect, just like drinking a cup or two of coffee,” Dr. Dosenbach told CNN.

“But then I thought, no, this is not a placebo,” he said. “I was the computer tablet and my thoughts were like computer thoughts, which of course doesn’t make sense.

“I knew this wasn’t normal, but it wasn’t scary.”

At least 18 scans of each participant’s brain were taken before, during and after the experiment, using a heat map with red, orange and yellow tones to represent the change in normal brain activity and blue and green to represent the brain in its normal state.

Dosenbach said he was very interested in his own response to the psychedelic substance and the results he saw on the brain scans.

“It was definitely a great experience for a neuroscientist,” he said NPR.

“It’s really fascinating how your brain can fall apart. Because the way something breaks down tells you how something works.”

Another participant, however, reported having a more vibrant and biblical response and “feeling like God’s light was shining on him,” Nichol said.

“We were actually able to go to that spot on the scan and pinpoint exactly when he felt that – it happened at the peak of the desynchronization (of the typical brain pathways).”

“Psilocybin, unlike any other drug we’ve tested, has a huge effect on the entire brain that we didn’t expect,” the doctor said. The New York Times.

“It was quite shocking when we saw the magnitude of the effect.”

The scans also showed that there was a slight change in brain activity in those given Ritalin, but the neural adaptation in those taking psilocybin was three times greater.

The researchers conducted a second study with four participants who returned six to 12 months later to test the psychedelic drug. The man who felt God was also included. This time, however, he responded very differently.

“The first time he had an almost religious experience,” Nichol told NPR. “The second time he saw demons.”

While psilocybin has shown promise in treating anxiety and mental health disorders, some individuals may experience persistent and disturbing visions based on their mental state, personality, and current environment, according to Medical news today.

Brain scans showed that the participants’ brain networks returned to their normal state in the days after taking psilocybin, but the connection to the hippocampus persisted for up to three weeks.

This long-lasting effect could explain how the drug can have a therapeutic effect on people with mental disorders.

“There’s a huge effect at the beginning, and when it’s gone, there’s a small effect left,” Dr. Dosenbach said. “That’s exactly what you’d want to see for a potential drug.”

“You don’t want to destroy people’s brain networks for days, but you don’t want everything to go back to the way it was right away,” he said. “You want an effect that lasts long enough to make a difference.”

DailyMail.com has reached out to the researchers for comment.