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Nov 06, 2024

Natural Psychedelic Mushroom Experiences Are 'More Alive And Vibrant' Than Trips With Synthetic Psilocybin, Study Says - Marijuana Moment

Published on By A new study finds that people who have used multiple different formulations of psilocybin—including whole mushrooms, mycological extract and a lab-synthesized version—typically prefer

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A new study finds that people who have used multiple different formulations of psilocybin—including whole mushrooms, mycological extract and a lab-synthesized version—typically prefer whole mushrooms, which they describe as not only more effective but also “more alive and vibrant.”

The report, by psychedelics researchers in Canada and Washington State, is the result of interviews with four people who who’ve used psilocybin in various forms. Two participants had used psilocybin in all three of the studied forms.

“As far as we know,” authors wrote, “this sample contains the only individuals who have legally experienced three different forms of psilocybin” under a Canadian law allowing therapeutic access.

While participants said all three of the forms of psilocybin offered psychedelic experiences, they preferred natural formulations—whole mushrooms and extract—over the synthetic version.

“There was broad consensus that all three forms were helpful and similar, all generating visual and perceptual distortions, emotional and cognitive insight, and mystical experiences,” the report, published in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies, says. “However, synthetic psilocybin was said to feel less natural compared to organic forms, and the overall quality of experience of synthetic psilocybin was inferior to the organic forms.”

Authors noted in the report that there are good reasons to believe a person’s experience with synthesized psilocybin might differ from whole mushrooms or mycological extract. While psilocybin is the most well known of the psychoactive chemicals in psychedelic mushrooms, they also contain other compounds that could modulate the experience—a phenomenon often known as the entourage effect, which has also been observed in cannabis.

“While primary interest in Psilocybe and similarly psychoactive mushrooms revolves around the actions attributed to psilocybin, or more specifically psilocin, psilocybin-generating mushrooms also contain a range of other various alkaloids with some demonstrating properties such as baeocystin, norbaeocystin, serotonin, tryptophan and phenylethylamine,” the study says. “This makes it unlikely that consuming psilocybin or psilocin alone would be phenomenologically or pharmacologically identical to consuming similar amounts of the entire mushroom.”

The report continues: “Ultimately, the presence of myriad co-occurring chemicals within psychedelic mushrooms likely catalyzes synergistic effects in ways similar to the complex chemical interactions observed with cannabis and ayahuasca pharmacology. Thus there is clinical rationale for hypothesizing that whole mushrooms may produce a different experience in the context of psychedelic-assisted therapy.”

Researchers interviewed participants about six different themes, including phenomenology and subjective effects, preference, emotional and psychological effects, spiritual and mystical experiences, onset and comedown and mild and transient side effects.

Participants said the synthetic psilocybin was acceptable but generally agreed it was inferior to natural formulations.

“If all you have is synthetic, it’ll get the job done,” said one, “but not a first choice.”

Another described the synthetic psilocybin as feeling “more medicine-y and less spiritual.”

Notably, the study was not blinded, meaning that participants were aware of which form of the drug they were taking. Participants also were recounting experiences that in some cases had happened up to 19 months earlier.

“Ultimately a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial should be conducted to determine if statistically significant improvements can be detected in [psilocybin-assisted therapy] where whole Psilocybe mushrooms replace synthetic psilocybin,” authors wrote.

Nevertheless, the new study says it “demonstrates that there are indeed perceived differences between forms of psilocybin.”

In terms of subjective effects, participants generally described the natural forms of psilocybin as more immersive and vibrant.

“Things were brighter, green was greener, red was redder,” said one participant of the experience with whole mushrooms. “It was a brightness, a clarity, a cleanness.”

Of synthetic psilocybin, by contrast, another participant said: “It was like I was looking through a window, looking at it. I wasn’t in it.”

Another person said of synthetic psilocybin that “I was OK, and I was comfortable with it, but it didn’t bring the emotion that [whole mushrooms] did.”

While responses generally indicated a preference for natural forms of psilocybin, that wasn’t always the case. Some described the mycological extract as having a faster onset, while others said it contributed to feelings of panic and anxiety.

Another participant said of their experience of bodily transcendence: “In all three cases, my physical body largely ceases to exist.”

Other responses appeared to be based more on participants’ relationship with or perceptions of the psychedelics rather than their physiological effects.

“The [mycological extract] was alive and well,” one person said, “but I think there’s something still sort of sacred and alive with taking it as the mushroom itself.”

While participants agreed that synthetic psilocybin still had therapeutic qualities, authors reported, they preferred natural versions. Synthetic versions had a “harsh onset and rapid comedown, artificial texture, and overall inferior quality,” the report says.

“There was consensus among participants that the preferred form was the whole mushroom. The reasons given for this include the feeling that the whole mushroom is sacred, alive, unmanipulated by humans and natural,” it continues. “Individuals found the whole mushroom and mycological extract forms to have a gentler onset and comedown, and cited this as a factor that made the forms superior to the synthetic variant. At the same time, the experience of synthetic psilocybin in pill form was described as feeling more like medicine and being a dummied-down experience that was generally viewed as inferior to the organic forms.”

In light of the findings, authors wrote that “the whole mushroom form may have a superior therapeutic effect, although further research is required to confirm this.”

They also noted that the general trend in research has been to focus on synthetic compounds.

“Research on novel compounds in the field of psychedelic medicine has primarily focused on synthetic compounds like psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, and a range of analogues,” the study says. “This bias in research is likely due to a range of factors and is heavily influenced by profitability, the need to discover patentable drugs, and Western empiricism.”

Indigenous populations, by contrast, “have used visionary fungi for millennia” and “preferentially or exclusively use whole mushrooms in ceremonial and healing practices,” the report adds. “Limiting research to the impact of synthetic compounds therefore excludes these groups from scientific findings, creating additional barriers to establishing equity.”

The new research adds to findings from a separate study earlier this year, which found that the use of full-spectrum psychedelic mushroom extract had a more powerful effect than chemically synthesized psilocybin alone. Authors of that study similarly said the findings could have implications for optimizing psychedelic-assisted therapy.

In terms of the entourage effect, modulating phenomena have also been observed with cannabis and its many chemical components.

Exactly how the entourage effect works, however, remains a matter of discussion within the scientific community. A recent research review into the synergistic effects of the chemical components in medical marijuana concluded that terpenes, popularly credited with modulating the experience of cannabis, may indeed be “influencers in the therapeutic benefits of cannabinoids,” but for now that influence “remains unproven.”

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Ben Adlin, a senior editor at Marijuana Moment, has been covering cannabis and other drug policy issues professionally since 2011. He was previously a senior news editor at Leafly, an associate editor at the Los Angeles Daily Journal and a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. He lives in Washington State.

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