For thousands of years, mushrooms have been used by people for their psychedelic effects. Recently, scientists have discovered what happens to your brain when you are on mushrooms. By understanding how psychedelic mushrooms work in the brain, you can see how these drugs affect your way of thinking when you are high, and why it is important to go into treatment when you no longer have control over your addiction.
How Psilocin Influences Getting High
Psilocin is the active ingredient in mushrooms. The psilocybin chemical in the mushroom is broken down in the liver in the psychoactive form psilocin, which is what helps flowers breathe. The main brain cell affected by psilocin is the 5-HT2A receptor. 5-HT2A helps the brain make new connections and find new ways of communicating internally when you are high. That is why people who are on mushrooms say they think differently than others.
Why You Feel Unusual When You’re On Mushrooms
The psychedelic effects of mushrooms start at the brain’s thalamus, which filters information you receive from the outside world. Your brain is having trouble figuring out what to pay attention to. This could explain why your vision may be distorted or see colors change. When you are high, the thalamus tends to communicate more with sensory regions of the brain, like taste and smell. The unusual sensations could be your brain taking in every bit of information it receives, instead of organizing it nicely.
Why Mushrooms Lead to Mystical Experiences
Psychedelics tend to disintegrate brain networks. Mystical experiences could also happen because mushrooms affect a tiny brain region called the claustrum, which is involved in decision-making and attention. The claustrum gets disrupted by psilocybin, which causes weird shifts in yourself and your experiences.
Why It Is Hard to Study Psilocybin in the Brain
It has been said in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) and the British Journal of Psychiatry that the prefrontal cortex is involved in decision-making and memory, and the posterior cingulate cortex is involved in your sense of identity. However, studies of brain activity while under the influence of psychedelics are very complex and badly designed. There are many factors that influence how your brain may react to a trip, like your underlying health and mood, personality traits, and physical surroundings. If you find yourself hooked on psychedelics, it is vital that you seek treatment so you are able to distinguish between reality and a psychedelic trip.
Hallucinogens can lead to trips that often distort reality and lead to addiction. Alta Loma is here to connect you with top-trained addiction specialists that can help you resume control of your life. We understand that the struggle is real, and we have the tools to help you on your journey to recovery. We offer several different programs that can cater to a wide variety of lifestyles, including outpatient and onsite care. In addition to helping you throughout recovery, we believe it is crucial to address underlying mental health concerns that may be connected to addictive behavior. Our highly trained staff can also work with you to personalize treatment in a way that meets the needs of your unique case and ensures the best chance of success in recovery. To learn more about how we can help you begin a happier and healthier lifestyle, please call us at (866) 457-3843.
