After a relatively short period of prohibition by the government, research and interest in
shrooms has grown to levels unparalleled since the flower child days of the hippies
revolution during the ‘60s. Finally, a fter many years of senseless legal restrictions ,modern
science has began to examine these magical mushrooms in earnest, with many well
respected research institutes and brilliant minds exploring the powerful therapeutic uses
and the myriad benefits of shrooms. Currently, there is rapidly growing interest by people
from all walks of life who are curious to try shrooms for themselves and begin finding out
more about the benefits and potential uses of psychedelics.
Natural psychedelics like shrooms alter our perception of reality and sometimes expand our
consciousness to exploration of new ideas and insights. Psychedelic experiences are
often deeply healing, and many consider a single mushroom trip to be one of the most
important experiences of their lives. For some, shrooms re-ignite a sense of wonder and
awe for the world around them, creating a sense of connection to all other life. For many,
micro-dosing shrooms is a literal life-saver , providing an avenue for those who lived
traumatic experiences to face and overcome them. Magic mushrooms can help us become
more compassionate, more creative and hopefully, wiser stewards of this world.
The Potential Benefits of Shrooms
Although modern science is still working to understand more of how psychedelics effect the
brain’s chemistry, we do know psilocybin produces some very unusual e ffects in the brain.
The binding structure of Psilocin is very similar to the structure of serotonin, a
neurotransmitter, which acts as a chemical messenger and performs many important roles
in our nervous system, including conveying messages between brain cells and muscle cells.
Since it very closely resembles serotonin, psilocin can easily bind to receptor sites in the
brain which are meant for serotonin, activating the serotonin receptor sites.
There are serotonin receptors all over the brain but most are found in the cerebral cortex ,
which is the area of the brain responsible for important functions like thinking,
understanding language, perceiving, and memory. Both of the most studied active
compounds in magic mushrooms, Psilocybin and psilocin , are psychedelic tryptamines.
Although our understanding is incomplete, recent studies have given new insights into how
psilocybin works. Currently it is believed that one of the major effects of psilocybin stems
from it’s ability to suppress select functions of the brain responsible for filtering ‘extraneous’
information from a person’s senses. This would cause more sensory information to reach a
person’s consciousness, causing hallucinogenic effects and changes in perception.
Shrooms can activate these receptors and shift the default function of the brain to a new
pattern, often creating a psychedelic experience. This is why heightened awareness of
surroundings, enhanced tactile senses, mood changes, and other unusual sensations
happen during shroom use.