Psilocybin has shown promising results in treating depression.

A newly published study in Nature Medicine now shows what happens in the brain under the influence of psilocybin.  

- The brain is better connected after the intoxication of psilocybin, says David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, one of the researchers behind the study.  

Areas of the brain are extinguished 

Using magnetic camera images, the researchers examined almost 60 people.

The researchers saw that the substance quenches activity in the various control centers of the brain under the influence of psilocybin.

These are areas that are developing and becoming stronger as we grow. 

- A big part of growing up is that we train the brain to do a few things very well.

We speak the same language and we become part of society.

Our brain becomes very reliable, but sometimes it can turn over and we end up in a depressive thinking of kneading that can not be escaped from - except during a psychedelic intoxication, says David Nutt. 

"You liberate the brain" 

During the psychedelic intoxication, all parts of the brain begin to communicate more freely with each other.  

- You liberate the brain to a state you have not been in since you were a little baby.

When you are a small child, all parts of the brain communicate with each other, says David Nutt.  

Researchers liken the effect on the brain to shaking a snowball.

Harmful thought patterns are broken during the psychedelic intoxication and new memory traces can begin to form.   

- When the brain is restored after the intoxication, the brain is not as rigid and fixed in the same lingering thought pattern as before.

It works more normally and is better connected, as our magnetic camera images show, says David Nutt.  

Compared psilocybin with SSRIs 

The researchers also wanted to compare the antidepressant effect of psilocybin with traditional antidepressant drugs SSRIs.

In almost 30 percent of the participants, the symptoms of depression decreased in the group that received standard antidepressant drugs.

The corresponding figure in the psilocybin group was 60 percent.

The study was small, but the researchers' conclusion is that psilocybin is at least as good an alternative as antidepressant drugs.  

- We also discovered that those in the psilocybin group estimated that their well-being was higher, says David Nutt.  

Shows long-lasting effects 

The reason for this, the researchers believe, is that psilocybin acts in a different way in the brain than antidepressant drugs.

David Nutt compares the effect of antidepressant drugs with a cast on a broken bone.

The antidepressant medication protects the stress center in the brain and the brain heals.  

- But it heals at a price because the medicine also dampens other parts of the emotional center in the brain.

People may feel that they are not depressed, but neither does it enjoy life.

Psilocybin, on the other hand, acts in the cortex, the thinking part of the brain.

This means that pleasure is not dampened, says David Nutt. 

The results have shown long-term effects.  

- We have seen permanent brain changes of psilocybin after a month and we can see psychological effects over a year later, says Robin Carhart-Harris, professor of neuroscience and psychiatry who was also part of the study.  

More about the progress in psychedelic science can be seen in Healthy of Magic Mushrooms at the World of Science on Monday 25 April at 20:00 on SVT2 or on SVTPlay.