The evidence is convergent. Multiple independent sources reach the same conclusion, the underlying mechanism is well-characterized, and even the field's most cautious voices treat it as worth doing.
The first person that puts in the comments, oh, my goodness. I learned today that mushrooms grow out of our neurons. When we take magic mushrooms, that is not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that these little mushroom shaped protrusions that we're calling dendritic spines do in fact grow out of dendritic branches of neurons when animals ingest psilocybin or are injected with psilocybin.
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But it's one paper of a growing body of work showing that, yes, indeed, psilocybin induces both structural and functional plasticity in the human and animal brain.
I think the predominant theory is that psilocybin induces neuroplasticity through the addition of novel connections in those pyramidal neurons of the frontal cortex, elsewhere in the cortex, and certainly also in the visual cortex. Probably also subcortical as well below the cerebral cortex in areas like the thalamus, maybe even in the brain stem as well.
The paper included some subjective reports of that sort. But then was able to link those to changes in brain circuitry and brain activation in response to music using neuroimaging.
So this raises a very interesting idea, which is perhaps it's the growth of new connections, these new dendritic spines in particular neurons. That's created by administration of psilocybin. That explains the relief from depression that people experience.
really point to the incredible role that psilocybin can have in creating an experience inside of the session the journey or the trip as it's called, as well as initiating neuroplastic events, perhaps the addition of dendritic spines. Maybe even some new neurons maybe. Although I don't think that's the predominant mode.
So these measurements were done in the mouse equivalent more or less of the prefrontal cortex. There are some interesting details in this paper, for instance, that those new connections persist. So they don't just grow out during the psilocybin being active in the bloodstream and brain of the animal, they persist.
So if neurogenesis ain't it, what is? Well, it's very clear that psilocybin, other psychedelics and any behavioral or drug intervention that can induce neuroplasticity does so largely through the addition or strengthening of new neural connections or through the elimination or weakening of other neural connections.
Nonetheless, it's very clear that in both animal studies and humans, psilocybin is inducing both structural and functional changes in brain circuitry. And that in humans, the network connectivity is being changed dramatically.
Mouse brains grew 10% more dendritic spines within 24 hours of a single psilocybin dose.
Psilocybin caused increase in neurogenesis & the formation of new synapses
they found that the single dose of psilocybin increased the formation of new dendritic spines a 12 increase a week after exposure and some of these new connection sites were still there a month after the mouse's psilocybin dose
they found psilocybin creates new and lasting connections in the brain or at least in mouse brains