A new study suggests that the use of full-spectrum psychedelic mushroom extract has a more powerful effect than chemically synthesized psilocybin alone, which could have implications for psychedelic-assisted therapy. The findings imply that the experience of entheogenic mushrooms may involve a so-called “entourage effect” similar to what’s observed with cannabis and its many components.
“To date, clinical trials have generally been conducted with chemically synthesized psilocybin,” wrote the 15-person research team, representing institutions such as the Hadassah Medical Center at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Boston-based Human Metabolome Technologies, Parow Entheobiosciences in Chicago and others, “and little attention has been given to additional, potentially therapeutic, psychoactive or non-psychoactive compounds found in psychedelic mushrooms.”
The findings, they said, indicate full-spectrum psychedelic mushroom extract (PME) “has a more potent and prolonged effect on synaptic plasticity” than chemically synthesized psilocybin (PSIL) on its own.
“These findings open up new possibilities for the therapeutic use of natural psychedelic compounds, providing hope for those who have found little relief in conventional psychiatric treatments,” Hebrew University said in a press release, adding that the study “suggests that psilocybin-containing mushroom extract may offer unique therapeutic effects not achievable with psilocybin alone.”
“This research not only underscores the superiority of extracts with diverse compounds,” the release says, “but also highlights the feasibility of incorporating them into Western medicine.”
To conduct the study, published late last month in the journal Molecular Psychology, researchers injected adult male mice with either synthesized psilocybin or a full-spectrum mushroom extract that contained not only psilocybin but also psilocin, norpsilocin, baeocystin, norbaeocystin and aerugeniscin. They then examined behavior in the mice, such as a head-twitch response (HTR), as well as samples of dissected brain tissue. Effects were measured at three days and 11 days after treatment.
“Our findings show no difference in acute effects on HTR,” authors wrote. “However, we found an effect of PME on synaptic protein levels in 4 brain areas that is significantly more pronounced overall than the effect of PSIL.”
Those synaptic proteins, they said, are seen as possible markers of neuroplasticity, which they describe as “the lifelong capacity of the brain to respond to experiences, learning and the environment and to reorganize structure, function and connections in response to such stimuli.”
That effect is believed to be central to the function of psychedelics in therapy.
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