Magic Mushrooms Improve Brain Connections to Ease Depression

Magic mushrooms connect regions of the brain that are more segregated in people with depression, paving the way to treat the condition differently than with conventional medications.

Psilocybin, a hallucinogenic compound present in fungi, helped “open up” and improve communication within the brain for up to three weeks, researchers from Imperial College London found. The result was a liberating effect not seen with the traditional antidepressant Lexapro, according to the study published in the journal Nature Medicine.

New treatment approaches are needed since as many as one in three patients don’t achieve a full recovery with existing first-line drugs. The ...