Skip to main content

Magic Mushrooms Could Be Beneficial for Mental Health

Shamans of Central and South America used "magic" mushrooms when they supposedly took a journey into the life beyond. In this zone they made claims of being able to forecast the future. A test was done by the American Dr Andrija Puharich who held hands with a shaman as they took the mushroom together. Puharich reported that he and the shaman went down spiral stairs into the underworld. In other words they actually shared a mystical trance state. If this really occurred it means that people do not lead separate lives from each other. One person can drift into ecstasy when they take a drug, but two people? That puts a different perspective on things.

Psilocybin, the chemical in magic mushrooms, was thought to excite the brain but new findings show the chemical reduces brain activity by suppressing neural firing in communication hubs, while at the same time stimulating the frontal cortex. Shamans and witchdoctors have taken drugs from plants they collected to give them spiritual powers for centuries. These drugs are now being tested to find out if they can be used to treat depression, anxiety and mental health in general.

The brains of a group of people were scanned with fMRI while they were under the influence of Psilocybin. Results showed that blood flow was reduced to communication centres. With these centres desensitized there would be a tendency for the mind to wander. The sense of self would also be reduced. Users of the drug say their ability to recall events that happened in the distant past was improved. There are plans for tests on cancer sufferers to determine if taking psilocybin can lessen anxiety in patients.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Health

Popular posts from this blog

Natural History Museum Human Evolution Gallery

 The Human Evolution gallery at Natural History explores the origins of Homo sapiens by tracing our lineage back to when it separated from that of our closest living relatives, the bonobos and chimpanzees. Around 200,000 years ago, Africa was where modern humans developed. They have smaller faces and brow ridges, a chin that is more prominent than that of other ancient humans, and a brain case that is higher and more rounded. Modern human fossils from Israel (around 100,000 years old), Africa (around 195,000 years old), and Australia (around 12,000 years old) are among the casts on display. These fossils demonstrate that typical characteristics of modern humans evolved over time rather than emerging fully formed from Africa. They also suggest that at least two waves of people leaving Africa may have occurred, one about 100,000 years ago and the other about 60,000 years ago. We are all descendants of those who left during that second migration wave outside of Africa. Source: Natural...
  Home-made saucer that flies down the road.

Study of Tooth Enamel Indicates Neanderthal Diet Was Carnivorous

 A new study on Neanderthal dietary practices has just been published in the journal PNAS by researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and several German scientific institutions. They were able to determine that a Neanderthal who lived in a cave on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Paleolithic period (50,000 years ago) ate exclusively carnivorous food using a newly developed method for studying the chemical signatures of ancient tooth enamel. This isn't the first study to find this, either. Despite this, it is a one-of-a-kind and significant discovery because it was made through the development of a novel analytical method that could be used to learn more about the diet and way of life of Neanderthals who lived in other parts of Eurasia in the distant past.   To investigate the diet and eating habits of Neanderthals, numerous research projects have been initiated. However, they have resulted in contradictory outcomes. The CNRS researchers...