A single psilocybin dose is associated with long-term increased mindfulness, preceded by a proportional change in neocortical 5-HT2A receptor binding

Authored by sciencedirect.com and submitted by Samwise2512

A single dose of the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) agonist psilocybin can have long-lasting beneficial effects on mood, personality, and potentially on mindfulness, but underlying mechanisms are unknown. Here, we for the first time conduct a study that assesses psilocybin effects on cerebral 5-HT2AR binding with [11C]Cimbi-36 positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and on personality and mindfulness. Ten healthy and psychedelic-naïve volunteers underwent PET neuroimaging of 5-HT2AR at baseline (BL) and one week (1W) after a single oral dose of psilocybin (0.2–0.3 mg/kg). Personality (NEO PI-R) and mindfulness (MAAS) questionnaires were completed at BL and at three-months follow-up (3M). Paired t-tests revealed statistically significant increases in personality Openness (p uncorrected = 0.04, mean change [95%CI]: 4.2[0.4;∞]), which was hypothesized a priori to increase, and mindfulness (p FWER = 0.02, mean change [95%CI]: 0.5 [0.2;0.7]). Although 5-HT2AR binding at 1W versus BL was similar across individuals (p uncorrected = 0.8, mean change [95%CI]: 0.007 [−0.04;0.06]), a post hoc linear regression analysis showed that change in mindfulness and 5-HT2AR correlated negatively (β [95%CI] = −5.0 [−9.0; −0.9], p FWER = 0.046). In conclusion, we confirm that psilocybin intake is associated with long-term increases in Openness and – as a novel finding – mindfulness, which may be a key element of psilocybin therapy. Cerebral 5-HT2AR binding did not change across individuals but the negative association between changes in 5-HT2AR binding and mindfulness suggests that individual change in 5-HT2AR levels after psilocybin is variable and represents a potential mechanism influencing long-term effects of psilocybin on mindfulness.

SpamTheDmg on March 5th, 2020 at 14:30 UTC »

Edit: I appreciate the gold and silver. I also notice these discussions resulting from this comment have been deleted, please don’t knock the moderators for doing so if they chose to. I’m sure they had their reasons. Thanks to everyone who shared their insights and points of view.

It might be beneficial for the studies to provide information on what the participants were doing while under the effects. Edit: The study itself does say the participants listened to a standardized playlist of music while on a dose of 0.2-0.3 mg of psilocybin, but I’m more curious about the layout of the rooms, wether a psychotherapist was present during the study in case of adverse reactions, wether or not participants were encouraged to talk or simply experience, etc.

A lot of these posts, from what I’ve seen, turn into people praising the use of mushrooms without providing evidence-based outcomes for anything other than anecdotal experience (aside from the studies themselves, which often involve a therapeutic component, much different than just dosing yourself anywhere anytime).

Suffering individuals who struggle with resistant depression may run to the hills with some of these suggestions, taking unsafe doses in unsafe locations.

Please, be mindful of what you tell others, and if considering, try to get it from as safe a source as possible.

Edit: Thanks for all the comments and discussions. Here’s a link to a website I cited in a couple comments below, providing positive and negative effects of mushrooms as well as overdose information: https://www.projectknow.com/overdose/mushrooms/

If anyone has any other credible sources if information they want shared, I can pin them to this comment.

I’m not trying to sound biased one way or another - I just want people to have information and be safe; know what you’re taking, why you’re taking it, and what it might do to you (NOT saying “don’t take it”)

Edit 2: thanks to u/sunnysmof for suggesting I link the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychadelic Medicine(MAPS): https://maps.org

Lots of great information there for using psychedelics in therapeutic ways.

Edit 3: A comment from u/UnfetteredDiscussion with some good resources: Here is enough information for you to know just how safe or unsafe mushrooms are.

https://maps.org/research/psilo-lsd/lsd-news-timeline/538-benefits-of-magic-mushroom-therapy-long-lasting

https://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms.shtml

400 Trip reports logged as "glowing experiences" https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.cgi?S1=39&S2=-3&C1=4&Str=

CowWrangle on March 5th, 2020 at 13:34 UTC »

I wonder if the changed binding has anything to do with HPPD

firstwork on March 5th, 2020 at 13:24 UTC »

I can't read the article.

What is 'mindfulness' and how is it quantitatively measured?