Eine Einzeldosis eines psychedelischen Zauberpilzes kann laut Studie anatomische Veränderungen im Gehirn verursachen. Die Teilnehmer nahmen 25 mg Psilocybin ein und berichteten einen Monat später von tieferen psychologischen Erkenntnissen und einem besseren Wohlbefinden.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/05/magic-mushrooms-psychedelic-changes-brain-anatomy-psilocybin
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Single dose of magic mushroom psychedelic can cause anatomical brain changes, study finds
Participants took 25mg of psilocybin, reporting deeper psychological insight and better wellbeing a month later
A single dose of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, can induce anatomical changes in the brain, according to research among people who took the psychedelic compound for the first time.
Scientists spotted apparent changes in the brain’s structure which were still apparent a month after healthy volunteers took the drug. If confirmed, they may help explain the therapeutic effects that psychedelics can have on anxiety, depression and addiction, researchers said.
Evidence for the changes came from specialised scans that measured the diffusion of water along nerve bundles in the brain. They suggested that some nerve tracts had become denser and more robust after the drug was taken. While the findings are preliminary, the scientists said the opposite was seen in ageing and dementia.
Scientists have long sought to understand how psychedelics affect the brain and the work has gained fresh impetus in the wake of trials and studies that suggest the compounds could be used to treat a range of mental health disorders. The drugs are thought to help by boosting flexible thinking and allowing people to escape destructive cognitive ruts.
In the latest study, Carhart-Harris and colleagues at Imperial College London explored the “entropic brain effect”, in which neural activity becomes more varied on psychedelics; the impact of the drug on people’s wellbeing alongside any functional or anatomical changes in the brain.
Writing in Nature Communications, the researchers describe another key finding. Those who had the largest spike in brain entropy after psilocybin were most likely to report deeper psychological insight and better wellbeing a month later, underlining the link between flexible thinking and improved mental health. “It suggests a psychobiological therapeutic action for psilocybin,” said Carhart-Harris.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-71962-3
They aren’t for everyone and should be used responsibly, but I credit a night with curing my depression.
I’m terrified of spiders but ever since, I catch and release whenever possible.
I was a participant in one of these studies in my state! Excited to see the results being published.
I take them weekly around 2.5 to 3g. I use them to work through my mental troubles. I have rough trips sometimes when I’m working through something, but I always feel better and clearer about what I was going through afterwards.
Outside of water and oxygen, idk if there exists a cure all.
But from what I have seen, if everyone did psychedelics the world would be a much better place.
Which does make it interesting they have been illegal while alcohol has been hella legal
That is fascinating. How can such a small dose detectably affect brain structure?
One day science will back off psychadelics as a healing tool when they realise that most people cannot integrate ego death in their experiences and that for most, the benefits will be lost in 6 months without consistent dosing.
The FDA should be granting approval later this year in 2026 in the US for treatment resistant depression. Very exciting times
This is just my experience. I was irrationally scared of the dark from the time i was young until into my early 40s. When i drove at night I would check the backseat and still be terrified someone was going to pop up behind me with an axe. I smoked cigarettes outside at night and would stand right in front of the door afraid that someone was hiding in the bushes. One night i took some mushrooms and hung out on the porch at night. I’ve never been afraid of the dark since then and I have no idea why it changed.
As a counter point to all these stories: I took it a few times, as well as lsd. Nothing changed in me, still depressed and anxious. I feel people really want to believe this stuff would help cure their ills, but wanting to believe is a very powerful drug
I have heard of mushroom curing depression. On the flip side there are tons of examples of people doing them and getting brain broken as well. I assume the good outweighs the bad here. but it shouldn’t be ignored.
My dad calls it a mental tune up
People are mixing up psilocybin with mushrooms weight in this thread. Dried mushrooms can be ~ 0.5-1.5% psilocybin by weight, but this varies massively based on strain and preparation. 25mg psilocybin is equal to roughly 3 grams of dried mushrooms.
Anecdotal but in my experience they improve and foster metacognition, self awareness, and new ideas. I have been led to realize things that I hadn’t thought of before, yet seem obvious now. Definitely helps with better understanding oneself.
We gotta get this into the mainstream . World is so full of angry depressed people who lack empathy
Mushies are great until they arent. Now they have left me with an anxiety disorder and panic attacks I never had before. I had an ego death trip and it wasnt scary just alittle uncomfortable, but now I am terrified of the fractal abyss and never want to go back to that hell hole.
Oh man, more good news! Ive taken some in the past and it definitly helped me with my mental health problems. I only did a gram at a time. It does suck if you get bad news or something while on them so you gotta be careful about where you take it and who can contact you while on it.
Where can I get me some of that. My brain needs a reboot
Another chime in saying mushrooms gave me 2 experiences: the best experience in my life and the worst experience in my life.
That’s kinda freaky. I don’t like the idea of taking a substance that *physically changes my brain.* at that point it’s like, changing me into a different person, which isn’t a power I’m comfortable with something having over me
How many grams of mushroom is 25mg psilocybin? Let’s say B+ or penis envy.
I took 8 grams and I can honestly tell you when I became sober I was changed. Life is very different now
25mg is a pretty big dose.
I only took mushrooms once and that was enough. It was ‚eye opening‘ in a sense, and you really don’t need to do it a second time.
25mg isnt even your average microdose, crazy that such a small amount has that affect.
Always be careful with mushrooms, or any drugs or substance that alters your state of mind. if you ever have second thoughts before using anything, especially mushrooms, just don’t. going in with the wrong mindset can have catastrophic results. this isn’t a exaggeration. in my experience mushrooms are much harder to control once you sign up for the ride. ive always compared it to like a roller coaster. once youre in and the guard rail is down youre stuck along for the ride until it ends. if at any moment before you take them you have some negative thoughts its best to listen to yourself and avoid them. a bad trip can be devastating. mentally and physically. and make sure you are with people you can trust and that actually care about you. Just be careful.
Could really use some of that „better wellbeing“ these days.
Sure, but the same brain changes can be achieved without the hallucinogenic experience. Furthermore, this enables to do sucessful double-blind controlled trials which cannot be done due to the obvious difference between receiving a placebo vs the drug. Cf. [https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5c01797](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5c01797)
It seems this comment thread is not distinguishing between microdosing (let’s call anything under half a gram microdosing) and a full trip. 25 milligrams is 1/4 of a tenth of a gram.
This is an extremely minimal dose and it’s remarkable how disproportionate the stated effects are to the dosage in this study.
It’s seems like many to most of the self reported negative effects here are from macro-dosing.
Or they can cause you to bawl your eyes out for four straight hours while reliving every moment of pain you have ever experienced.I don’t suggest using them three months after you lose the love of your life suddenly and unexpectedly. So much for how they’d help so much with my grief. Tried again at the one year mark, pretty much the same. They aren’t for everyone, for sure.