A single dose of psilocybin produces “rapid and persistent therapeutic effects in human clinical trials,” according to a study published in Nature.
The changes were strongest in the default mode network, which is connected to the anterior hippocampus and is thought to create a sense of space, time and self.
“Persistent reduction of hippocampal-default mode network connectivity may represent a neuroanatomical and mechanistic correlate of the proplasticity and therapeutic effects of psychedelics,” the report’s authors note.
The study examined healthy adults over a three-week period who took a high dose of psilocybin (25 mg) or methylphenidate (40 mg) and returned for an additional psilocybin dose 6–12 months later.
Psilocybin massively disrupted functional connectivity (FC) in cortex and subcortex, acutely causing more than threefold greater change than methylphenidate, according to the study.
Visit Nature.com to read the full study.