Psilocybin and the Brain

Psychedelics are known to activate the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor on brain cells. This is the receptor that causes the brain to fire neurons, which in turn can cause a psychedelic experience, if enough is consumed. The mystery in all of this is how does a therapeutic effect take place as well as a psychedelic. After administering psychedelics to patients, MRI's can be done to see how brain activity differs from patients using psychedelics to not using psychedelics. When looking at the energy a brain uses to transition from state to state, patients under the influence of psychedelics showed much more fluid transitions, where the brain was not exerting itself as much as a brain not under the influence. Psychedelics actually aided the brain in functioning

in a calmer more consistent way. Scientists are playing around with how to take this key information and use it to manipulate how the brain reacts on psychedelics. Is there a way to administer a higher dose without having the psychedelic experience? There is a lot of exciting research being conducted and understanding the signaling properties behind psychedelics will tell us a lot more, but for now lets celebrate this work and get excited for the future findings.

"This is your brain on SHROOOOOOOMS!"