Brain Structure May Determine Psychedelic Experiences
A new study published in Biomedicines has found that the thickness of an area of the brain called the rostral anterior cingulate cortex acts as a strong indicator as to how intense certain key aspects of a psychedelic experience may be for psilocybin users, IFLScience.com reports.
The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of 55 study participants while they were tripping on psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms. After the effects of the drug had subsided, participants also completed the Five-Dimensional Altered State of Consciousness (5D-ASC) questionnaire, which measures the intensity of psychedelic experiences. They found that the thicker the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, the more extreme the psychedelic experiences were reported to be.
Other parts of the cingulate cortex didn’t show any type of similar correlation, leading the researchers to conclude that the rostral anterior cingulate cortex alone is responsible for dictating how a person is affected by psilocybin.
