Psilocybin releases brain in depression

by Team Inc.

2022-04-17-Psilocybin releases brain in depression

Psilocybin, a compound found in magic mushrooms, appears to clear the brains of people with major depression in a way that other antidepressants don't, a study finds.

The results, based on brain scans of 60 people, indicate that psylocibine could treat depression in a unique way, the researchers say.

Brain activity with psychedelics

Psychedelics are a type of hallucinogenic substances that appeal to all the senses and alter one's thinking, sense of time and emotions. As a result, they can be used successfully in depression. It can have even more benefits.

Antidepressants are often taken on a daily basis, while psilocybin may only need to be taken once or twice to achieve the same effect over a longer period of time. Further research in more patients is needed to confirm this.

Back to the research. The results, published in Nature Medicine, come from two studies. In the first, everyone was given psilocybin; and in the second — a randomized controlled trial — some received the drug while others received another antidepressant.

All participants also received talk therapies with registered mental health professionals. Brain scans were taken before the therapy and a day or three weeks after. Prof Robin Carhart-Harris, senior author of the study, said: “We do not yet know how long the changes in brain activity seen with psilocybin therapy last. We need to do more research to understand this. We do know that some people relapse. After a while, their brains may return to the rigid activity patterns we see in depression.”

Previous findings from the studies showed a reduction in symptoms of depression with the psilocybin therapy — but the researchers weren't sure how or why it worked.

Psilocybin shows promise as an alternative medicine

Now they want to test their theory of changes in brain connectivity for other mental illnesses, such as anorexia. A synthetic form of the drug is being tested on humans in trials under strict medical conditions, with psychological support from experts before, during and after ingestion.

Prof David Nutt, author of the study and head of Imperial College London's Center for Psychedelic Research, said the latest findings on psilocybin were exciting and important. In depression, the brain can get stuck in a rut and get stuck in a certain negative way of thinking.

In patients with depressive symptoms, a change was noticeable up to three weeks later after treatment with psylocibine. The brain was more open and the brain was more flexible and fluid. This was reflected in the increased connections between brain regions when patients were scanned. These patients were more likely to have an improvement in mood months later.

Similar changes were not seen in the brains of people treated with a standard antidepressant. “This supports our initial predictions and confirms that psilocybin could be a real alternative approach to depression treatments,” said Prof. Nutt.

Read more bbc.com (Source, EN)

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