This is a fascinating—and fairly compelling (I think)—article on how psilocybin mushrooms stimulate and connect parts of the brain that don't normally talk to each other, decreasing brain "chatter" and also the part of our brains that is responsible for maintaining the sense of "self." Together, this can result in decreased depression an an increase in openness, imagination, and appreciation of beauty.
Our human ancestors underwent a profound and significant dynamic shift around 30-35,000 years ago, one that corresponds with early cave art, the development of language, art, and culture. Some researchers and writers, including Terrence McKenna and Graham Hancock and others, suggest this sudden burst of consciousness may stem from the incorporation of psilocybin and other hallucinogens that stimulate the imagination into our diets, rendering us forever changed. T
While this topic may be controversial, it's worth considering, particularly under the umbrella of depth psychology and ways of increasing consciousness. Give it a read—and please weigh in. If you have other links or resources that talk about this topic, please post them here so everyone can benefit.
Read the full article here: How Tripping On Mushrooms Changes The Brain
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An anecdote: When my late beloved husband had encephalitis many years ago, part of the consequence was a sense of impaired memory. He found over time that with participation in mushroom ceremony, he could feel/sense new neural pathways being formed and attributed it to the mushroom experience.
A caution: While I understand the desire to justify psilocybin within the modern medical paradigm, and the use of the word "tripping" which sounds recreational in my frame, it is to be remembered that soma ceremonies with mushrooms were to be considered as prayer, tapping, with humility, into the vastness of the invisible world, akin to cosmos, the collective unconscious, the numinous... a religious experience . The images that people experience would benefit from being worked within the imaginal framework of depth psychology, rather than being left undigested.
There is a scientist in Serbia Stevan Petrovic who devoted to curing addictions, but at the same time openly writing about altered and psychedelic states of consciousness. When I read his book, I try to replicate what he and other researchers claim, but with my own chemistry. If for instance we are a species of parasites and sadists, I don't see how the mood that there's nothing to worry about can be more real than facts (a person can't be wrong no matter how much he/she feels bad about politicians, voters, and those who support the troops). If a stoned hippie feels that it's a good idea to have sex with everyone or walk naked, it's just an opinion, man. If an opinion is new, it doesn't mean that it's necessarily and once for all times better than the previous one.