Mushrooms could soothe depressions symptoms

According to a preliminary study, psilocybin, the main ingredient in magic mushrooms, may help to soothe symptoms of depression.

The research had a small sample size of only 20 patients and no control group who got a placebo for comparison’s sake. That makes it hard to draw solid conclusions about if or how well the hallucinogenic compound really works at fighting depression. However, brain-scan data from new research suggests that psilocybin does impact brain networks that are associated with depression.

A professor of psychopharmacology states that “larger studies are needed to see if this positive effect can be reproduced in more patients. But these initial findings are exciting and provide another treatment avenue to explore.”
 
Stubborn Depression
The researchers focused on 20 people who had tried normal depression treatments and found them to be lacking. Each participant, classified as having treatment-resistant depression, took a 10-milligram dose of psilocybin, followed by another 25 milligrams one week later – enough to cause hallucinogenic effects.

Before treatment and the day after the second dose, the participants all underwent brain scans to measure changes in blood flow and connections between brain regions. Nineteen out of the twenty patients made it through the whole study.

The most striking finding was that taking psilocybin, which occurs naturally in hundreds of mushroom species, decreased depression symptoms significantly. Scores on the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, the most commonly used depression-screening measure, dropped by an average of about 10 points out of 27 a day after the second dosage. The researchers reported that all patients experienced some decline in their symptoms, and 12 experienced at least a 50% drop.

Some scientists have suggested that this could be due to a honeymoon-like period in the days following a psychedelic experience. Therefore, to see if there were any brain changes linked to the associated mood improvements and stress relief, the researchers scanned the participants’ brains a day after the doses were taken.

The results showed a reduced blood flow to the left amygdala, an almond-sized region in the brain that controls emotion and fear. The researchers also saw increased chatter in the default-mode network – a network of brain areas most active when people are daydreaming or thinking about something.  

During electroconvulsive therapy, in which electrical currents are run through the brain as a depression treatment, the default-mode network rapidly becomes less functional and then recovers beyond its baseline condition. Something similar might happen with psilocybin, which may initially disrupt and then reset this network, giving the brain a fresh start that correlates with fewer depression symptoms even as long as five weeks after treatment.
New Form of Treatment?
In a statement, study leader said that “based on what we know from various brain-imaging studies with psychedelics, as well as taking heed of what people say about their experiences, it may be that psychedelics do indeed “reset” the brain networks associated with depression, effectively enabling them to be lifted from the depressed state.”

However, this treatment isn’t ready for prime time. Without a control group, the researchers can’t be sure that the patients weren’t just experiencing a placebo effect. Therefore, the researchers suggest that this study should be seen as a first step toward exploring psychedelic drugs as a treatment for depression.

Nevertheless, having said that, this is not the first study which suggests that there are some benefits from psilocybin for people with depression. Back in 2011, a similarly small study found that a year after taking psilocybin, participants reported higher life satisfaction and well-being, as well as increased spirituality and improve familial relationships. Those researchers concluded that psilocybin seems to prompt a sense of connectedness and meaning, which could be a mental health boon.

However, the hallucinogen could also cause dangerous side effects. A 2017 study found that of more than 2,000 people who’d had a “bad trip” on psilocybin, 10% felt they’d been a danger to themselves or others during their episode.

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Magic mushrooms can treat depression

A new study has found that the drug psilocybin, found in mushrooms, can help treat depression by helping them ‘reset’ their brains.

The findings come from a study in which researchers used psilocybin – the psychoactive compound that occurs naturally in magic mushrooms – to treat a small number of patients with depression in whom conventional treatment had failed.

In the study, the researchers describe patient-reported benefits lasting up to five weeks after treatment, and believe the psychedelic compound may effectively reset the activity of key brain circuits known to play a role in depression.

Comparison of images of patients’ brains before and one day after they received the drug treatment revealed changes in brain activity that were associated with marked and lasting reductions in depressive symptoms.

The authors note that while the initial results of the experimental therapy are exciting, they are limited by the small sample size as well as the absence of a control group – such as a placebo group – to directly contrast with the patients.

Dr. who led the study, said: “We have shown for the first time clear changes in brain activity in depressed people treated with psilocybin after failing to respond to conventional treatments.

“Several of our patients described feeling ‘reset’ after the treatment and often used computer analogies. For example, one said he felt like his brain had been ‘defragged’ like a computer hard drive, and another said he felt ‘rebooted’. Psilocybin may be giving these individuals the temporary ‘kick start’ they need to break out of their depressive states and these imaging results do tentatively support a ‘reset’ analogy. Similar brain effects to these have been seen with electroconvulsive therapy.”

Over the last decade or so, a number of clinical trials have been conducted into the safety and effectiveness of psychedelics in patients with conditions such as depression and addictions, yielding promising results.

In the recent  trial, the first with psilocybin in depression, 20 patients with treatment-resistant form of the disorder were given two doses of psilocybin (10 mg and 25 mg), with the second dose a week after the first.

Nineteen of these underwent initial brain imaging and then a second scan one day after the high dose treatment. The team used two main brain imaging methods to measure changes in blood flow and the cross-talk between brain regions, with patients reporting their depressive symptoms through completing clinical questionnaires.

Immediately following treatment with psilocybin, patients reported a decrease in depressive symptoms – corresponding with anecdotal reports of an ‘after-glow’ effect characterised by improvements in mood and stress relief.

Functional MRI imaging revealed reduced blood flow in areas of the brain, including the amygdala, a small, almond-shaped region of the brain known to be involved in processing emotional responses, stress and fear.

They also found increased stability in another brain network, previously linked to psilocybin’s immediate effects as well as to depression itself.

These findings provide a new window into what happens in the brains of people after they have ‘come down’ from a psychedelic, where an initial disintegration of brain networks during the drug ‘trip’, is followed by a re-integration afterwards.

Dr. explained: “Through collecting these imaging data we have been able to provide a window into the after effects of psilocybin treatment in the brains of patients with chronic depression. Based on what we know from various brain imaging studies with psychedelics, as well as taking heed of what people say about their experiences, it may be that psychedelics do indeed ‘reset’ the brain networks associated with depression, effectively enabling them to be lifted from the depressed state.”

The authors warn that while the initial findings are encouraging, the research is at an early stage and that patients with depression should not attempt to self-medicate, as the team provided a special therapeutic context for the drug experience and things may go awry if the extensive psychological component of the treatment is neglected.

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