MykoWeb -- The Mechanisms of Mind-Manifesting Mushrooms

An inside of how the magic mushroom work on your neurotransmitters.

MykoWeb -- The Mechanisms of Mind-Manifesting Mushrooms

The Mechanisms of Mind-Manifesting Mushrooms

Psychedelic mushrooms, such as the blue-staining Psilocybe species and Amanita muscaria, have been of enormous cultural and religious importance for many thousands of years, continuing to the present day. Most people have a vague idea that these mushrooms have neurologically active compounds that affect the central nervous system, but are less clear on exactly how these compounds act to alter consciousness.

To understand how psychoactive drugs work, one must first understand the role of neurotransmitters. The brain and the larger nervous system are made up a complex series of specialized nervous pathways. The individual neurons that make up these pathways communicate with other neurons at sites called synapses. Synapses are pairs of projections, an axon and a dendrite, each from a different neuron; between the two is a gap called the synaptic cleft. Transmission of a signal from one nerve to another involves the release of a neurotransmitter from the axon, which then disperses across the synaptic cleft and binds to receptors on the surface of the dendrite. The binding of the neurotransmitter to a receptor causes the neuron to either release or take up calcium ions, altering the neuron's electrical potential and either stimulating or inhibiting the movement of electrical pulses along the neuron to axons elsewhere on the neuron. Once an axon receives an electrical impulse, it releases neurotransmitters, continuing the chain of nervous signals.

There are many different neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, acetylcholine, GABA, and many others. Different neural centers and pathways in the brain use different arrays of neurotransmitters to transmit nervous signals. The actions and processes of the brain are determined by which of these centers and pathways are stimulated and which are inhibited.

Neuroactive compounds function by mimicking the action of specific neurotransmitters; they bind to the same receptors, where they act as either antagonists, agonists, or reuptake inhibitors. Agonists and antagonists both bind to the receptor sites of an analogous neurotransmitter, however, they differ in how they act once they bind to these sites. Agonists cause the neuron to transmit or inhibit a nerve impulse just like the actual neurotransmitter would, while antagonists simply block the binding of neurotransmitters without stimulating the neuron. A reuptake inhibitor slows the axon's reabsorption of a neurotransmitter, making the neurotransmitter available to the receptors for longer, hence prolonging an incoming nervous signal.

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MykoWeb -- The Mechanisms of Mind-Manifesting Mushrooms