Shroomery - Magic Mushrooms (Shrooms) Demystified. Community. Neuroscientists Probe Psychedelic Psilocybin. In the 1950s scientists studied the effects of so-called psychedelics: psilocybin from mushrooms, mescaline from cacti and the synthetic lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD.
British psychiatrist Humphry Osmond coined the name for this class of drugs based on their mind-altering properties, such as changes in the sense of self. The drugs showed some initial promise in treating chronic pain and depression in terminally ill patients but a wave of recreational abuse in the late 1960s led to outlawing and a halt in research. Now a new, rigorous, double-blind study has reopened the doors of scientific investigation, reporting spiritual effects and long-term impacts from the use of psilocybin. Neuroscientist Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University and his colleagues tested the effects of psilocybin--a drug derived from certain mushrooms that appears to mimic the effects of serotonin in the brain--on 36 middle-aged Americans who had never tried psychedelics before.
FUNGI Magazine - The Magazine for Amateur and Professional Mushroom Enthusiasts, Mycophiles and Mycologists. Mushroom Life Cycle.