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psilocybin mushrooms
Also known as: psilocybin mushroom, psilocybin fungi, psychedelic mushrooms
Facts (34)
Sources
Psychedelics, Sociality, and Human Evolution frontiersin.org 13 facts
claimRepeated exposures to psilocybin mushrooms in ancestral human populations likely constituted an important influence on the origins and development of ancient religiosity, including animism, belief in an afterlife, and shamanistic concepts.
claimTraditions of medicinal use of psychedelic mushrooms among hominins may have originated during periods of extreme food scarcity when ill or hungry individuals experimented with new foods and subsequently associated their recovery with the new dietary item, as hypothesized for non-human primate self-medicative behaviors by Huffman (1997).
claimPublic health assessments by Gable (2004), Nutt et al. (2010), and Studerus et al. (2011) concluded that psilocybin mushrooms are the safest of all common recreational drugs.
claimThe utilization of psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelic plants is documented in ethnographic and historical literature across all cultural regions of the globe, with the exception of the Insular Pacific.
accountIn the official religious system of the Mexica (Aztec) elite, the consumption of psychedelic mushrooms was associated with hospitality and ostentatiousness, involving ritual performances such as call and response, chanting, and dancing.
claimSelf-medication with psilocybin mushrooms would have ameliorated the costs associated with impairment of serotonergic neural signaling, which includes depressed mood, increased stress vulnerability, and cognitive inflexibility.
claimThe authors of the article 'Psychedelics, Sociality, and Human Evolution' focus on psilocybin mushrooms as likely candidates for early psychedelic consumption in the human lineage because they require no preparation and are bioactive in their natural state.
claimThere are no documented foraging societies that use psilocybin fungi, which may be due to the difficulty ethnographers face in accompanying nomadic foragers during the rainy season when the mushrooms grow.
referencevan Amsterdam, Opperhuizen, and van den Brink (2011) reviewed the harm potential associated with the use of magic mushrooms.
accountMesoamerican transegalitarian agricultural societies during the early contact period with the Spanish utilized psilocybin mushrooms for healing, spiritual, ritual, social, festive, and divinatory practices.
accountModern-day Mazatecs of Oaxaca, Mexico, employ psilocybin mushrooms in nocturnal rituals to find lost items, discover hidden truths, or diagnose ailments, with both the healer and the client typically consuming the mushrooms.
referenceThe book 'Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World: An Identification Guide' provides information on identifying psilocybin mushrooms.
accountThe Nahua people used psilocybin mushrooms in rituals performed by Mexica (Aztec) clergy and for personal medicinal or divinatory aid through ticitls (shamanistic healers).
Psychedelic Drugs News - ScienceDaily sciencedaily.com 7 facts
claimA global survey revealed that individuals with eating disorders frequently use cannabis and psychedelics, such as magic mushrooms and LSD, to alleviate symptoms, rating these substances as more effective than conventional treatments.
claimPsilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, is being investigated for its potential to treat depression and anxiety in cancer patients.
claimThe use of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic chemical found in magic mushrooms, has increased significantly nationwide in the United States since 2019.
measurementEmory University researchers discovered that psilocin, the active metabolite of psychedelic mushrooms, can delay cellular aging and extend lifespan, with human cells living over 50% longer and treated mice living 30% longer.
claimPsilocybin, a compound found in magic mushrooms, initiates a pattern of hyperconnectivity in the brain that is linked to ego-modifying effects.
claimPsilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, destabilizes a critical network of brain areas involved in introspective thinking.
claimOne or two doses of psilocybin, a compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, may improve the mental health of cancer patients when administered with appropriate support.
Published Studies — Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and ... hopkinspsychedelic.org 5 facts
referenceThe study 'Attenuation of psilocybin mushroom effects during and after SSRI/SNRI antidepressant use' by Gukasyan et al. was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology in 2023.
referenceThe Challenging Experience Questionnaire characterizes the nature of difficult experiences encountered during the use of psilocybin mushrooms.
referenceA 2017 study by Barrett, Johnson, and Griffiths published in Personality and Individual Differences found that neuroticism is associated with challenging experiences with psilocybin mushrooms.
referenceBarrett, Bradstreet, Leoutsakos, Johnson, MacLean, Jess, and Griffiths conducted a survey study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence in 2015 regarding the demographics and phenomenology of challenging experiences after ingesting psilocybin mushrooms.
claimIngesting psilocybin mushrooms can lead to both acute and enduring positive and negative consequences, as identified in a survey study of challenging experiences.
the consumption of psychoactive plants in ancient global and ... academia.edu 3 facts
claimThe author asserts that holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Holy Communion, and Marriage have roots in the experience centered on sacred psilocybin mushrooms.
claimShamanism and the ritual use of psychedelic plants co-evolved in prehistory, as hunter-gatherer diets included psychedelic mushrooms, which contributed to the selection of characteristics in human evolved psychologies.
claimPsychoactive ingredients used in religious rituals include narcotic analgesics (opium), THC (cannabis), psilocybin (magic mushrooms), mescaline (peyote), ibogaine (Tabernanthe iboga), DMT (Ayahuasca and phalaris species), Peganum harmala, bufotenin, muscimol (Amanita muscaria), thujone (absinthe, Arthemisia absinthium), ephedra, mandragora, star lotus, and Salvia divinorum.
History and Current Status of Psychedelics and Entactogens ... - NCBI ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 2 facts
Medicinal plants and human health: a comprehensive review of ... link.springer.com Nov 5, 2025 1 fact
claimPsilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, is showing promise in phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression and PTSD.
Ancient Roots of Today's Emerging Renaissance in ... link.springer.com 1 fact
claimArtifacts found in a 1,000-year-old ritual bundle from the pre-Inca Tiwanaku civilization contained traces of benzoylecgonine (a cocaine metabolite), bufotenine (an alkaloid in psychedelic snuff), psilocin (the active agent in magic mushrooms), and harmine and dimethyltryptamine (active ingredients in ayahuasca).
Hallucinogenic Plant - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics sciencedirect.com 1 fact
claimMaya and Aztec people used magic mushrooms, peyote cactus, and other psychedelic plants and fungi in group ceremonies to achieve intoxication.
The Montreal model: an integrative biomedical-psychedelic ... frontiersin.org 1 fact
referenceCavanna, Muller, de la Fuente, et al. conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled study on microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms, published in Translational Psychiatry (2022).