Magic Mushroom Compounds Improve Brain Connectivity in People with Depression | Imperial News

Psychedelic, a psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, helps “open” the brains of depressed people, even weeks after use.

These are the results of a new analysis of brain scans from nearly 60 people being treated for depression, led by Imperial College London. Psychedelic Research Center.. The team behind the study believes it may have elucidated how psilocybin has a therapeutic effect on the brain.

Psilocybin is one of many psychedelics sought as a potential treatment for mental illness. Several studies have tried synthetic forms of medicines to treat patients with depression and anxiety with promising results.

New results from the two combined studies reveal that people who responded to psilocybin supportive care showed increased brain connectivity not only during treatment, but for the next three weeks. This “opening” effect was associated with self-reported improvement in depression.

However, similar changes in brain connectivity have not been seen with those treated with conventional antidepressants (called escitalopram), suggesting that psychedelics work differently in the treatment of depression.

“The effects seen with psilocybin are consistent in two studies related to improving people, not with traditional antidepressants.” Professor Robin Carhartt Harris University of California, San Francisco

According to the team, the findings were published in the journal today. Nature medicineIs a promising advance in psilocybin therapy, the effects of which have been replicated in two studies. They say that patterns of brain activity in depression can be rigid and restricted, and psilocybin can help the brain get out of this rut ​​in ways that conventional treatments cannot. Explaining.

First author of the paper Professor Robin Carhartt HarrisThe former director of the Imperial Center for Psychedelic Research, now based at the University of California, San Francisco, said: ..

“Previous studies have seen similar effects on the brain when scanned with psychedelics, but here they are seen weeks after treatment for depression. This is a” carry-over “of acute drug action. Suggests. “

Improvement by psilocybin therapy

The first findings from two studies conducted at Imperial reported a reduction in depression measurements, but the mechanism behind how treatment exerts these effects was unclear.

In the latest study, a team led by the Imperial’s Center for Psychedelic Research analyzed fMRI scans of participants in these two trials. A more common randomized controlled trial of depression comparing psilocybin with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) escitalopram.

All participants also received conversational therapy with a registered mental health professional, and brain scans were performed before and 1 day or 3 weeks after the participants received psilocybin therapy.

Both trials showed improvement with psilocybin therapy, as measured by an improvement in the participant score of the clinical questionnaire. Analysis of brain scans revealed changes in communication or connectivity between brain regions.

“These discoveries are important because for the first time we found that psilocybin works differently than traditional antidepressants.” Professor David Nutt Director, Imperial Psychedelic Research Center

More specifically, they found increased communication between more isolated brain regions in depressed patients.

They found a correlation between this effect and amelioration of symptoms in both trials. The intensity and duration of the effect varied from participant to participant, but was the strongest among those who reported improvement in symptoms.

The researchers added that the first changes in brain activity one day after treatment were a good predictor of whether a person would still show improvement at 6 months, while follow-up data were still being analyzed for participants. I did.

Professor Carhart-Harris said: “We still don’t know how long the changes in brain activity seen with psilocybin therapy will last. To understand this, we need to do more research. We know that some people will relapse. , And it may after a while their brains return to the rigorous patterns of activity seen in depression. “

Although these findings are promising, the authors conducted previous trials to evaluate psilocybin for depression using controlled doses prescribed in the laboratory under controlled clinical conditions and mental health. Warns that it included extensive pre-, in-, and post-dose psychological support provided by specialists.

Patients with depression should not attempt self-treatment with psilocybin, as taking magic mushrooms or psilocybin without these careful safety devices may not give positive results.

Professor David Nutt, The head of the Imperial Center for Psychedelic Research, said: depression. This supports our initial predictions and confirms that psilocybin may be a true alternative approach to treating depression. ”

Professor Carhart-Harris said: You need to test if this is the case. If so, something important has turned out to be. “

This study was funded by the Alex Mosley Charitable Trust and supported by the founding donor of the Imperial Center for Psychedelic Research. The lead author, Dr. Richard Dors, now based in King’s College London, was supported by the Imperial College London EPSRC Center London (CDT) for PhD education in Neurotechnology.

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‘Increased overall integration in the brain after psilocybin therapy for depression‘By Richard Doze et al.Published in Nature medicine..

Contact your doctor for advice on treating depression, or NHS website..