An injection of psilocybin, the key ingredient in so-called ‘magic mushrooms,’ could offer lasting relief from chronic pain, according to new research.
A team of scientists at the University of Michigan found that rats given the psychedelic drug were significantly less sensitive to pain for weeks compared to animals who did not receive it.
These results suggest that the drug is altering pathways in the brain, the study authors wrote.
Scientists suspect many chronic pain conditions are the result of changes to the brain and spinal cord, not just the body part that’s in pain.
Psilocybin may modify these pathways rather than just treating the symptoms of pain.
In the new study, rats were given a small injection of formaldehyde in their foot to simulate chronic pain.
Injections like this can lead to a month or more of hypersensitivity, even in the feet that haven’t been injected.
So, while this pain isn’t the same as a person with a back injury or other chronic pain experiences, it is one way for scientists to study long-lasting pain.
The lab animals were then given either a low-dose injection of psilocybin, a high-dose injection, or an injection of harmless salt water – a placebo to ensure the drug was responsible for the observed effects.
The low-dose group received 1mg per kilogram of body weight, the equivalent of a microdose, while the high-dose group received 10mg per kilogram, a hallucinogenic dose.
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