Image for article titled Psilocybin Therapy Changes Brain Wiring in Depressed People, Study Finds

There is evidence that the active ingredient in mushrooms can help people with depression. The study found that the people in the therapy group had changes in their brain patterns associated with depression. People reported a reduction in their depression symptoms.

Since the 1970s, some researchers have been studying the benefits of mental health benefits of drugs. After decades of strict regulations, health authorities and governments have been more open to this research in recent years.

Health regulators have signaled their willingness to consider these and similar drugs for formal approval, despite the fact that large-scale research into this field is still fairly new. The Food and Drug Administration approved a spray form of the drug in 2019. The FDA granted a breakthrough therapy designation to a non-profit company in order to speed up the review process for their product. States and cities have begun to decriminalize the drug.

The results of animal and clinical trials have been promising for depression and other conditions. We don't understand how these kinds of drugs help people with these ailments. The research published Monday in Nature Medicine looks to add some insight.

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There were two small-scale trials of the drug. Patients with treatment-resistant depression were given the treatment with full knowledge, while patients with less severe depression were randomized to receive a placebo. All of the patients had their brains scanned before and after treatment.

There are areas of the brain that are overly connected and rigid in people with depression. The researchers found that people on psilocybin had a reduction in brain activity along the same regions as those on the SSRI. The subjects seemed to show an increase in brain areas that aren't as connected as they are in people who aren't depressed. The authors say that the brains of patients became better organized after taking the drug.

People who had their brain scans show these changes to a greater degree felt more relief from their depression. The changes seemed to last for at least three weeks after the second dose.

In previous studies we had seen a similar effect in the brain when people were scanned whilst on a drug, but here we are seeing it weeks after treatment for depression, which suggests a carry-over of the acute drug action.

As many as one-third of patients may be treatment-resistant, and the findings appear to confirm that psychedelics can provide an alternative to conventional depression treatments. The authors note that more research needs to be done on how long these changes last in people, since some people seem to experience a relapse of symptoms after a while. They caution that the drugs should not be used without the supervision of mental health providers.