Using unusually rigorous scientific conditions and measures, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown that the active agent in "sacred mushrooms" can induce mystical/spiritual experiences descriptively identical to spontaneous ones people have reported for centuries.
The resulting experiences apparently prompt positive changes in behavior and attitude that last several months, at least.
The agent, a plant alkaloid called psilocybin, mimics the effect of serotonin on brain receptors-as do some other hallucinogens-but precisely where in the brain and in what manner are unknown.
What causes the change in mood? Do people feel happier about life after experiencing it in a very different way? Severe alteration of perceptions caused by a hallucinogen would not seem sufficient by itself to cause a more positive outlook. After all, a nightmare does not brighten one's outlook and scary hallucinations probably wouldn't brighten one's mood afterward either. So what causes the mood brightening? A happy hallucination? Or do alterations in feelings about self and non-self make people feel less isolated and more connected after the hallucinatory experience? Do they feel that the world makes more sense? More generally, does the change in mood come from processing the meaning of the experience? In other words, is the mood change the result of cognitive processing that interprets the experience? Or does the drug cause lasting side effects on neurons separate from the memory of the experience?
Many of the subjects found 'shrooming to be a deeply significant and meaningful experience. By contrast, I'm skeptical that a chemical compound from this universe can allow one to experience the supernatural.
In the study, more than 60 percent of subjects described the effects of psilocybin in ways that met criteria for a "full mystical experience" as measured by established psychological scales. One third said the experience was the single most spiritually significant of their lifetimes; and more than two-thirds rated it among their five most meaningful and spiritually significant. Griffiths says subjects liken it to the importance of the birth of their first child or the death of a parent.
Two months later, 79 percent of subjects reported moderately or greatly increased well-being or life satisfaction compared with those given a placebo at the same test session. A majority said their mood, attitudes and behaviors had changed for the better. Structured interviews with family members, friends and co-workers generally confirmed the subjects' remarks. Results of a year-long followup are being readied for publication.
Psychological tests and subjects' own reports showed no harm to study participants, though some admitted extreme anxiety or other unpleasant effects in the hours following the psilocybin capsule. The drug has not been observed to be addictive or physically toxic in animal studies or human populations. "In this regard," says Griffiths, a psychopharmacologist, "it contrasts with MDMA (ecstasy), amphetamines or alcohol."
The study isn't the first with psilocybin, the researchers say, though some of the earlier ones, done elsewhere, had notably less rigorous design, were less thorough in measuring outcomes or lacked longer-term follow-up.
In the present work, 36 healthy, well-educated volunteers-most of them middle-aged-with no family history of psychosis or bipolar disorder were selected. All had active spiritual practices. "We thought a familiarity with spiritual practice would give them a framework for interpreting their experiences and that they'd be less likely to be confused or troubled by them," Griffiths says. All gave informed consent to the study approved by Hopkins' institutional review board.
Each of thirty of the subjects attended two separate 8-hour drug sessions, at two month intervals. On one they received psilocybin, on another, methylphenidate (Ritalin), the active placebo.
I've long thought that the mind is a very flawed instrument when it comes to accurately assessing and understanding the world. Since natural selection probably selected for genes that cause us to perceive and focus in ways that enhance survival and reproduction at the expense of accuracy I can imagine that a drug could temporarily block cognitive processes that hobble our ability to assess the world accurately. So while I'm skeptical that drugs can help one see God I do think it is possible that hallucinatory compounds could help improve the quality cognitive processing.
On the other hand, improvements in mood could actually be the result of strengthened delusions about reality. I'm reminded of a study I read about a few years ago which found that depressed people had more accurate perceptions of how their co-workers evaluated them than non-depressed people. Non-depressed people tended to think their co-workers rated them higher than the co-workers actually did. Anyone recall the study? I can't find it and would appreciate a link to it.
So then does psilocybin improve mood by helping people better understand the world? Or by feeding their delusions? Or by acting like an anti-depressant drug that alters neurotransmitter levels?
I am reminded of Michael Persinger's use of electromagnetic fields to induce a state of mind in which some think they experience the divine. Though some are skeptical of Persinger's research.
By Randall Parker at 2006 July 11 06:11 PM Brain SpiritualityTry the shrooms and report it to us here.
"So then does psilocybin improve mood by helping people better understand the world? Or by feeding their delusions? Or by acting like an anti-depressant drug that alters neurotransmitter levels?"
The first point is intresting (though i'd still rather be happy and delusional than depressed), but why do we still have to contrast pschological and neuro-level effects? If we belive that mind is result of the brains then changes in the neurotransmitter levels certainly can have change in the cognitive system and vise versa. In this point of view it also shouldn't suprise us that chemical compounds can help us see god - after all, god, like everything else, are the products of brains.
If you do eat magic mushrooms, be aware that only 2-3 trips can permanently ruin normal mushrooms for you. They taste like death. I uh, heard this from a friend. yeah, that's how I know.
psilocybin looks a lot like serotonin. this could mean that it acts like serotonin or it could bind serotonin sites and produce opposing effects.. given that a large number of anti-depressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibtors (increasing serotonin signaling) i think the former is more likely.. so i would bet that the positive affective effects could be dissociated from the hallucinogenic..
less scientifically, i can tell you that the hallucinations one experiences on shrooms are not like those portrayed for LSD usage.. very rarely do you see or hear anything that isn't there.. rather, it seems as though perception is either being amplified or a filter on perception has been removed such that your hardware for perceiving is being overwhelmed.. this can feel really good.. the spiritual component, i think, is less like experiencing God and more similar to the passage in Siddhartha when he is next to the river and begins to have the sensation that he can experience what it is like to be everything in the world and becomes sort of continuous with his surroundings.. i feel like perhaps the decreased filtering on sensory stimuli may allow patterns to meet up that wouldn't normally.. and if you consider thought processes to be to some extent in tension between the creative and the rational, shrooms definitely push the balance for the latter..
of course introspection is pseudoscience.. i look forward to more studies.. seems like the thalamus would be a good place for the filtering or lack therof to happen..
Research on these sorts of drugs is stuck in the dark ages. Maybe researchers will have to just ignore what people are self-reporting for a while -- not because it isn't valuable -- but because it seems to interfere with researcher discipline.
Just stick to things like fMRI and other objective metrics for a while.
Hmm... another controvertial subject in such a short span....
Well as a scientist and a guinea pig I feel comfortable weighing in on this subject.
Initially this study reminds me significantly of Timothy Leary's Concord Prison Experiment:
"The Concord Prison Experiment was conducted from 1961-1963 by a team of researchers at Harvard University under the direction of Timothy Leary. The original study involved the administration of psilocybin-assisted group psychotherapy to 32 prisoners in an effort to reduce recidivism rates."
http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v09n4/09410con.html
As one can see from the above referenced article it had decidely mixed results - with perhaps the only significant recidivism reduction occuring in the first 2 years.
What can one make of this?
Personally I feel that the "psilocybin effect" was real and useful - but once the prisoners were released into a culture intolerant of such therapy that they gradually relapsed into their old socio-economic patterns and genetic predispositions.
So - the question then might be - should society allow the use of a type of Soma to be used to help pacify the "irredemable offenders" who cannot seem to live peacefully in a civilized society?
I would answer yes - if only until such blatently anti-social traits could be gentically engineered out of Humans.
Some might see this as an endorsement of a "Brave New World" - a society that psychedelic user and famous author Aldous Huxley insightfully warned us about in his book.
I, however, do not see such a society as a complete distopian nightmare, but rather feel that some of his more accurate predictions are simply inevitable as we evolve socially from our tribalism into a more wordly and even inter-stellar civilization.
But as far as the positive uses of psilocybin in society - while I used to be quite the evangelalist for this in college - I now am more conservative in my endorsement of such therapies.
I think on a case by case basis - such therapies could be useful in treating everything from addiction to violent behavior - when dispensed by a trained and liscenced professional - much like anti-depressants are administered today.
As to why the psychedelic effect is useful - I feel strongly that many people benefit from the breaking down of traditional cultural paradigms or dogmas - which both LSD and psilocybin appear to do effectively in many users.
In fact I would go as far as to say that this is indeed a double edged sword as many users - myself included - often find it difficult to fall back into traditional social roles once being so completely "freed" of environmentally derived mental preconceptions.
Although I personally prefered the effects of LSD, as I felt more alert and less overwhelmed, I do believe the more "mellow" graduated effect of psilocybin on the Human conciousness is probably more ideal for clinical use.
And this gets us back to the real dillema facing American society in this new century - will we allow our scientific and technological advancement to be hamstrung by social dogmas and political posturing - or will we work to reform the political landscape so that legitamate scientists can be allowed to pursue legitamate and innovative studies without fear of retribution.
And this is why I feel as a scientist we should leave our personal bias - but not our ethics - at the door.
To me, the obvious question is - why do this study on 'shrooms? Why not peyote? Widely used by Native Americans for religion.
JussiR,
I see an important difference between what you refer to as psychological as compared neuro-level effects. If a drug works its effects by distorting senses then it works differently than if, say, it distorts higher cognitive processes. Drugs that exert their effects thru pleasure circuitry work differently in yet another way. If a drug just changes sensory input then even if it exerts its effects in the brain it seems to me it is chiefly working on peripheral devices.
Near as I can tell most (all?) addictive drugs exert their addictive effect through their effects on pleasure/pain. A drug that does not have such powerful effects on pleasure probably won't change urges as deeply.
If your higher cognitive processes remain unaffected but just get different signals coming from outside then the same you can still reason about what is happening to you as the you who is there when you are not on drugs.
Actually what drugs like this do is shut up the yammering stream of reflexive thoughts that are mistakenly thought of as being "me". Otherwise known as the "ego", it is the thought-based idea / sense of self.
In fact there is no separate self at all to be found, we are all the same pure consciousness, "God" if you like, creating forms and then experiencing them from the "inside" for a while. The self arises in early childhood and gradually becomes more constricted and deadened as our being becomes more and more identified with the mental concept of who we are. This is why young children are so alive and free and able to experience life so fully, and why the teenage years are so vexing (the arising of full identification with the conceptual delusion of self). But fortunately this dream of an ego can be awakened from. And will be, sooner or later.
Try this class of drugs (or meditation, or self-inquiry) and the truth of this will eventually be made clear to "you".
"of course introspection is pseudoscience.. i look forward to more studies.." - Coffee Mug
Who is this "I" who looks forward to more studies? Nothing but a thought appearing within consciousness and identified with the me. And this thought is precisely backwards. Introspection is the only way to wake up from the dream of identification with the contents of awareness and realize you are the awareness itself. Always believing that the answer is found in incessant thought is the madness of the mentally made sense of self. Watch your thoughts. A constant narrative of "problems" that "need" to be fixed. "Damn that aggressive driver, I'll show him!". "I wish I owned that car". "Man, if I could sleep with her, why doesn't my girlfriend work out like that". "Fuck, why did Joe get the promotion, I deserve it more than he did". Constant problem-making, constant fault-finding with life. The present moment isn't acceptable, I must ruminate on the failures of the past and plot out the future. Not now, then! All. Day. Long. And this is believed to be "normal"! That voice is a torturer for the mentally-made illusion of self who lives in constant identification with and belief in those thoughts. Psilocybin is one way to provide a respite, to allow some level of realization of the truth that that idea of self is a complete fiction, that we were, are, and always will be the pure awareness observing and experiencing all of these "separate" people, animals, and other forms. This is what Einstein meant when he wrote:
"A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
Look at the true scientific innovators and study how their innovations occurred -- their breakthroughs were found in the emptiness caused by quieting their thoughts and allowing an answer to arise from the creative spaciousness within. In dreams. In sudden inspirations after giving up on "solving" the problem, and suddenly the answer arises. Or watch creativity within your own self -- the same principle applies.
Do you want a mental model to "explain" who you really are? Or do you want to know who you really are beyond the tiny limited slice of words that constitute any given concept? Experiencing life as it is, allowing thoughts to arise when needed to type a blog comment, but not continuously mistaking thought concepts for the reality of life playing itself out within consciousness. For this journey poetry and song is a much better guide than peer-reviewed papers:
"Sooner or later, just like the world first day, sooner or later, we learn to throw the past away
History don't teach us nothing
Know your human rights, be what you come here for" - Sting
Perhaps what appear to be perceptual filters, that are removed by psilocybin, are in fact emotional filters. Perhaps they are chronic emotional perspectives on the world, in effect low level states of anxiety or depression, created by prior perhaps very early trauma.
If this were the case, the effects of psilocybin would feel like "seeing the world realistically for the first time". This would also be consistent with a gradually decreasing long-term effect, as the stresses of daily life gradually re-installed the chronic emotional states.
My description may be a somewhat more analytical way of saying what Mike said. I suspect buddhists get a little hung up on language...
Mushrooms do not last nearly as long as LSD or Peyote. They are also easier to measure than LSD.
In me at least they produce an extreme sense of euphoria and feelings of being blessed and enlightened. On lower doses colors are brighter and everything shines and shimmers. I did not start believing in the supernatural, but I felt mystical. I felt detached from myself and much more attached to nature. Interacting with people is possible but requires effort. Fruits and vegitables taste wonderful, though you rarely want to eat more than a few bites under their influence. While on them I think about my family and other people I love and how important they are to me, and feel guilty for any bad things I have done in the past and not properly atoned for.
On very high doses the euphoria can be even more intense but somewhat mixed with other emotions. The changes to perceptions becauses so strong that it can be frightening. I certainly understand how people could consider it the most significant experience of their life. For this lifelong atheist it was the closest thing to a religious expereince I've ever felt.
It is awful that mushrooms are illegal. Virtually everywhere where Psylocybin mushrooms are found they are part of the native religious rituals. They are completely legal in the Netherlands. You walk into certain stores, pick out what variety you want from a refrigerated display case and pay about $15.
LSD has all the same effects, but the visual effects are much more intense, and the emotional experience is less euphoric. The experience also lasts 12-18 hours, so it is much less practical a drug than mushrooms, which last 2-5 hours. Peyote is somewhat in between them in duratation and effects. Worth trying once but nowhere near as good as mushrooms.
If you have never expereinced a psychedelic drug you have missed out on one of the most unique and wonderful human experiences. You are somewhat like someone who has never had sex, driven a car, been to a movie theater, or tasted ice cream. If you live in the right part of the country, namely anywhere humid, you can easily find some wild. If you don't want to violate the law, plan a trip to Amsterdam. It one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and you can also visit Paris on the same trip, just 4 hours away by high-speed train.
Dosage, set, and setting. Dosage, set, and setting.
Psilocybin used to be known as "sillycibin" and had a reputation for being the most "fun" of the pschedelics. One friend reported an hallucination of WC Fields walking through the wall, carrying a cane. Old Bill Fields tipped his hat, smiled, and backed out through the same wall. Sounds like an enlightenment experience to me.
You can't cheat an honest man.
There's a sucker born every minute.
Never wise up a chump.
The study seems flawed due to selection bias. "Let's pick a bunch of wacky mystic spiritualists, give them some 'shrooms and see what they say? Hey!?! What do you know? They reported having mystic spiritual experiences."
Lono,
Huxley's _Brave New World_ was far more tribalist than modern North American society, which leaves me struggling trying to follow the inference you make.
Everyone,
I have tried psychedelic drugs, and I can honestly say I found no benefit in them whatsoever. Anyone who chooses to avoid them is losing nothing of any value.
Mike,
I completely agree with your comment - though I fear it is lost on those who have not experienced.
Mr. smith,
Yes - exactly!
Bob,
No, I would not say the Brave Ne World was tribalist at all - but it was ridgedly hierarchial in nature - the book itself contrasts the "primitive" fringes with the more wordly "civilized" peoples.
And also - I'm not being condesending, but I really feel sorry for you if that is how you feel about your experience with psychedelics - and I have to ask - how did Ice Cream work out for you?
Lono,
Whether primitive or civilized, all the peoples in _Brave New World_ were tribalist with the rare exceptional alphas and betas they shipped off to live on an isolated island. In fact, since the 'civilized' people were decanted in large numbers, even the alphas and the epsilons could share identical genetic code with all differences accounted for by epigenetic influences. The gammas through epsilons, in fact, spent their entire lives in large groups of clones. How can one get any more tribal than that?
In the end, Savage could not survive without his tribe.
Ice cream is great. Lactose intolerance forced me to switch to frozen yogurt as an adult, though. I feel sorry for you that you cannot experience uninhibited joy and inspiration from the real world.
Hello all, maybe I can help a bit by telling about the mystical experience I had under the influence of LSD. First a bit of background. I grew up moving around a lot and was undoubtedly a victim of culture shock. While prior to the age of 12 I was interested in science, reading, etc.--a curious kid--once my sex drive kicked in I became more worried about fitting in than anything else and my mental condition was not helped at all by school precisely because school could not keep up with the many cultures I was subject to from moving. I ended up failing in school while desperately trying to keep up socially and ended up on drugs and alcohol. I ended up back in the U.S. a high school drop-out and a complete mess. Here in the U.S. I was introduced to LSD. The first few times were nothing to speak of, but then one night I had the experience which totally changed my life. I had been in love with a girl for about two years but she wanted nothing to do with me, and I suppose this desperate love plus my background plus the LSD set the stage for a total integration of my personality and a catapulting me into adulthood. It changed my life utterly. No doubt because I had an inadequate store of knowledge to comprehend it I thought at first I was becoming Christ or something. Now after many years of reading and educating myself I believe I was dramatically catapulted into the last stage of childhood development as described by Piaget (the stage of formal operational thought). But as it was so sudden and compressed it seemed I was becoming much more than I really was. Still, the experience was of great value because I suddenly recovered all my interests as a boy before my sex drive kicked in at 12 except now these interests were fully blossomed in an adult mind. I quit drugs and alcohol quite easily after the experience and no longer worried much about fitting in to other peoples ideas of what I should be. I was truly introduced to the capabilities and pleasures of my own mind. I believe what happened to me is what the educational system should have done for me but perhaps cannot unless integrating the psychedelic experience with its lessons. Forgive me if this relation of my experience is extremely abbreviated as I do not want to bore anyone. I just want to add as final note that I am not saying the experience is for everyone--I do not want anyone freaking out on psychedelics in the attempt to have "the experience the guy had who posted on future pundit"--but as far as I'm concerned, I had the experience 20 years ago--half my life ago--and it saved my life. It was without question the most meaningful experience I have ever had in my life. I am now 42, slender, with good eating habits, exercise, etc. and I take great pleasure in my mind (love of reading, writing, etc.). In fact I work in a bookstore so I can always be around books and select the ones I'm interested in and I work as a security guard on my other job primarily so I can read! I find it hard to believe I was a high school drop-out. I hope this helps somebody out there concerning said subject. Just take it easy and accept it and don't think anything much of it. Your just being introduced to the capacities of your mind. Eat right, sleep right and don't force it. Read, take up a hobby, talk to your girlfriend about it. Try books on Zen (the method of Zen by Eugene Herrigal), books on psychology (Maslow), etc. Feed your mind with knowledge and create something to get an organic and balanced development. I could go on and on about it, but as they say, gotta go.
Take it easy, Dan
Bob,
I see what your saying - I really just mean't to say as we evolve from "isolated" tribes and Nation States into a more worldly citizenry. The tribal cliques and rivalries will always be a bit of who we are - no matter how "enlighted" we become.
[ I feel sorry for you that you cannot experience uninhibited joy and inspiration from the real world. ]
Actually - I must apologize - I guess I did sound condescending but you probably shouldn't tell people that they are not missing out just because psychedelics did not prove inspirational to yourself.
However, that being said, many former users - like myself - and the famous Richard Alpert (a.k.a. Ram Dass) - do not feel using psychedelics is necessary for mental and spiritual development - but we also do not deny or feel ashamed that using them was a part of our past development.
The fact is that - if they were legal in the U.S. - I would probably use them from time to time as a tool - just like the internet - to further enhance my knowledge of the world.
Why anyone should be allowed to deny another sentient being the right to affect their local external and internal environment is beyond reason.
Lono,
I think your brush stroke is a wee bit too wide here:
Why anyone should be allowed to deny another sentient being the right to affect their local external and internal environment is beyond reason.
Do you think people have a right to turn off in their brain:
Suppose people used a chemical that turned them into psychopaths. Would you defend their ability to do so?
My view: We have rights as a result of our capacity and motivation to respect the rights of others. If we do not hold up our end of the deal then we deserve to recognition of rights from other humans.
It is a very intellectually lazy and morally corrupt sort of libertarianism that holds that rights simply exist.
Randall,
You are right, perhaps I have been to broad in my assertion - and I too also dislike Libertarianism taken to extremes, or those who believe in the "noble savage" idea of individualism and Social Anarchy.
That being said, I think it is a fine line one treads when they tell another what they can and can't do with their own body.
And I think the U.S. has clearly crossed that line in it's puritanical and largely hypocritical domestic and international "war on drugs".
And I think the theraputic and medicinal benefits of psychedelics and marijauna need to be evaluated on a scientific, rather than political, basis.
I have ingested magic fungi a couple of times, in Hawaii in 1973. It was a very memorable
experience.
It seems to me that they raise serotonin levels, and hence,allow the contents of cognition to increase. More mushrooms, more awareness. They have been used by all
mystery religions, throughout mans history, and probably are the source of much
of revelatory experience. John was told to "eat this book" in revelations in the Christian scriptures. The book was a mushroom.This is not a hasty conclusion,
but one arrived at after many years of exhaustive research. Really the use of magic mushrooms is quite ordinary. It is the fanatic puritanism movement that is false
religion, that create unfounded fears and are an integral part of the US war machine
that are to blame, for the fear base propaganda, that now threatens the west.
Testing