What Is Psilocybin?
Psilocybin could be defined as a substance with hallucinogenic effects that is contained by certain mushrooms from different parts of the world, including Europe, Mexico, South America and the USA.
The 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances has included psilocybin among the Schedule I controlled substances. That means it is considered to be dangerous, in the sense that it has a high abuse potential. Moreover, it has not yet convinced the authorities about its medical properties.
People who have used magic mushrooms for recreational purposes have reported euphoric states, distortion of their senses, and certain effect which are more common to the use of LSD, for instance. Psilocybin is not considered to be addictive.
What psilocybin actually does is to activate the serotonin receptors in our brain. These receptors are usually the ones found in the prefrontal cortex. In other words, they affect the part of the human brain which is in charge with our moods, perception and cognition.
However, psilocybe spores do not always distort our visual or auditory perception. It changes the way people who are using magic mushrooms see the surrounding world. The exact impact of psilocybin can be influenced by the ingested amount, as well as by people’s expectations and previous experience with psychedelic mushrooms.