So-called ‘magic mushrooms’ contain psilocybin, a hallucinogenic substance that has therapeutic potential in the field of psychiatry. It alters a brain network involved in introspective thinking, leading us to daydream and remember

At first glance, during a psychedelic trip with psilocybin, one enters a kind of trance. This substance — which is present in certain hallucinogenic (or “magic”) mushrooms — leads to an altered state of consciousness. It makes human beings much more sensitive to their environment, while offering us the ability to experience visual disturbances, synesthesia phenomena and even mystical experiences. The self dissolves and transcends the body, while spatiotemporal dimensions become distorted. All this happens in a span of about four to six hours. The timeframe also opens the door to exploiting this journey for therapeutic purposes: the psychoactive substance is thought to have potential against particular psychiatric disorders, such as resistant depression or addictions.

Amidst the renaissance in psychedelic medicine, science has turned to studying what’s behind these unusual mental experiences that hallucinogens lead to. Research published in the scientific journal Nature has taken a leap forward in understanding how the brain works in these circumstances, by describing the brain changes that occur in a handful of healthy people during these trances. The study sheds light on a neurobiological explanation for these so-called “trips,” revealing that psilocybin alters a brain network involved in introspective thinking, such as daydreaming and remembering.