How To Change Your Mind- Chapter 2: Psilocybin Flashcards
What is Psilocybin?
Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms, are a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain psilocybin which turns into psilocin upon ingestion. Biological genera containing psilocybin mushrooms include Psilocybe, Panaeolus, Inocybe, Pluteus, Gymnopilus, and Pholiotina.
How does psilocybin affect the brain?
Psilocybin, the compound found in magic mushrooms, improves connections between different regions of the brain in depressed people. This allows the individual to escape excessive rumination and self-focus, says a study by scientists at UC San Francisco and Imperial College London.
Does psilocybin increase serotonin or dopamine?
Ketamine (10 mg/kg) and psilocybin (2 and 10 mg/kg) increased dopamine, serotonin, glutamate and GABA extracellular levels in the frontal cortex, while psilocybin also increased GABA in the reticular nucleus of the thalamus.
What is psilocybin historical use?
The hallucinogenic species of the Psilocybe genus have a history of use among the native peoples of Mesoamerica for religious communion, divination, and healing, from pre-Columbian times to the present day. Mushroom stones and motifs have been found in Guatemala. A statuette dating from ca. 200 CE.
History of Psilocybin?
In 1959, the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann isolated the active principle psilocybin from the mushroom Psilocybe mexicana. Hofmann’s employer Sandoz marketed and sold pure psilocybin to physicians and clinicians worldwide for use in psychedelic psychotherapy.
When was psilocybin first used?
Prehistoric rock art near Villar del Humo in Spain suggests that Psilocybe hispanica was used in religious rituals 6,000 years ago.
History of Psilocybin use in Mesoamerica?
By the 1600s, hallucinogenic mushrooms in the Psilocybe genus had fallen out of use and memory in Europe. However, in the 1620s, Spanish conquistadors conquered Mesoamerica, moving into land occupied by tribes like the Aztecs. Mesoamerican tribes had a long and deep cultural use of hallucinogens, including Psilocybe mushrooms. These mushrooms were often used to commune with the gods, to divine, and for recreation.
Archaeologists have found evidence of ritual use of mushrooms by the Aztecs and Mazatecs as early as 200 AD. Mushroom stones and motifs, statuettes, drawings, and recorded history report mushroom use in Guatemala, Mexico, Colima, and throughout the rest of Central America.
This usage of magic mushrooms was quickly suppressed by Catholic missionaries, who saw the shakes, convulsions, and ravings of patients who had consumed the mushrooms as communication with the devil. Despite this, usage continued, often in private.
What is “Seeking the Magic Mushroom” ?
“Seeking the Magic Mushroom” is a 1957 photo essay by amateur mycologist Robert Gordon Wasson describing his experience taking psilocybin mushrooms in 1955 during a Mazatec ritual in Oaxaca, Mexico.
What is María Sabina famous for?
María Sabina was an important healer who knew how to use hallucinogenic mushrooms to heal. She lived in Mexico.
How does psilocybin affect consciousness?
Classic psychedelics — the pharmacological class compounds that includes psilocybin and LSD — produce visual and auditory illusions and profound changes in consciousness, altering a person’s awareness of their surroundings and of their thoughts and feelings.
What is the mystical experience questionnaire?
The Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ) is an unvalidated self-report measure that has been used to measure mystical-type experiences in laboratory studies of hallucinogens.
