Magic mushrooms may help to assuage depressionin mass who have fail to respond to traditional treatment such as anti - depressants by increase action in the amygdaloid nucleus , which is the part of the brain that process fear . According to a new study in theJournal of Psychopharmacology , this effect results in a fall trend to chew over on negative intellection and an increase in excited processing , which may explain the remedial properties of the drug .
The study builds on a serial of previous papers that point to the ability of psilocybin – the alive compound in magic mushroom – to significantly scale down symptoms of imprint where all other discussion had failed .
It has long been presume that overactivity in theamygdalain response to fearful input contribute to depression and other excited disorders , which is why most anti - depressant medication are contrive to lower activeness in the amygdala .
However , when scanning the encephalon of affected role one day after receiving psilocybin treatment for depression , research worker discovered an addition in amygdala activity while participant were demo image of horrific faces . Astonishingly , this increase in activity was directly correlate with a reduction in depression over the next few weeks , according to astudy published last year .
To inquire this matter further , the same squad of researchers have now used running magnetised resonance imaging ( fMRI ) to discern how psilocybin affects connectivity radiation diagram between the amygdala and other parts of the brain , and how this may help to alleviate depression .
Results showed that take psilocybin reduces communication between the amygdala and a brain region called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex ( vmPFC ) when viewing images of direful faces . Since the vmPFC has an repressing effect on the amygdala , this reduction in connectivity allows the brain’sfear centerto become more combat-ready , and as a consequence , connectivity between the amygdala and the visual cortex was seen to increase .
While the report authors place out that more research is needed before any firm conclusions are draw , they state that psychedelics like psilocybin may help people access and operate through unmanageable emotions , firstly by break away off negative thought loops and second by increase activation of the encephalon ’s aroused centers .
In this sentience , they appear to do the exact opposition to conventional anti - depressants such as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor ( SSRIs ) , which purport to treat depressive disorder by shutting down excited processing in certain parts of the Einstein .
