New wave: More recent research into the effects of psychedelics is branching out into surprising areas. Photo / Getty Images
Psilocybin has been used to treat clinical depression, but can it also benefit brain health and longevity?
My eyes are shut, so how come I can see colours and patterns like the cover art of an album from 1968? I’m lying under a blanket surrounded by eight other “psychonauts”, individuals engaged in psychedelic research.
I could be one of the participants in season two of Nine Perfect Strangers, starring Nicole Kidman as a therapist who doses her clients with psychedelic mushrooms – with increasingly dramatic results.
But no, we’re not on so-called “shrooms”. This is roXiva RX1 Light and Sound Therapy, a machine designed to induce some of the transformative effects similar to psychedelics – particularly psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms.
“This tech offers a new frontier – non-invasive, substance-free, and often profoundly transformative,” says Rowan Ramsay, the therapist operating the machine. “Whether it’s easing anxiety, re-igniting creativity, or improving memory and sleep, they are designed to guide you into expanded states of awareness where healing can happen.”
In the past few years, psilocybin has become widely researched as a treatment for PTSD, depression, addiction and more unexpected areas, such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Recently, New Zealand approved magic mushrooms for the treatment of depression, though only one psychiatrist is authorised to prescribe them at this stage.
Reports that psilocybin could have health benefits first emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. This was the heyday of scientific research into psychedelics, when more than a thousand clinical papers were published, involving 40,000 patients and hundreds of psychiatrists and neuroscientists worldwide. The results, described by a widely quoted meta-analysis, Masters and Houston in 1971, were “overwhelmingly positive”.
Now, in the second wave of psychedelic research, there are multiple trials taking place across the world. This includes looking into their potential use to treat end-of-life anxiety and depression in the terminally ill (at the US’s John Hopkins University and NYU), for smoking cessation, alcoholism, anorexia, OCD, asthma, longevity and pain syndromes, as well as seven separate trials worldwide into the use of psilocybin to treat depression.
In addition, anecdotally many of my midlife peers, encouraged by how easy it is to grow psychedelic mushrooms at home, are using them to microdose for mental wellbeing (a practice whereby the user takes doses so small that they are barely noticeable, usually on a day-on/day-off protocol).
According to a 2021 paper in Nature, “Among individuals reporting mental health concerns, microdosers exhibited lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress across gender.” It also reported that microdosers were “less likely to use alcohol frequently and were more likely to abstain from alcohol entirely”.
Others opt for the recreational approach, occasionally taking what they describe as a “midi dose” – “enough that you can feel it but not so much as to require a lie down,” in the words of Lisa, 58, a publishing executive.
“My friend grows the mushrooms in her airing cupboard and makes chocolates out of them, and every few months we’ll have half a chocolate each after dinner and get relaxed and giggly,” she explains. “The next morning, instead of having a hangover, we feel better than we did the night before – more focused and calm and a bit sparkly and happier. It’s like some of your negative thinking just drops away.”
David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, believes that “magic mushrooms are a hundred times safer and better than alcohol for the middle-aged. The chemical psilocybin can be found growing naturally in fungi in almost every country and has been used for thousands of years. Many people are using mushrooms as an alternative to alcohol. It relaxes you and makes you more sociable.”
Humans of all ages getting high for fun, relaxation and even religious “connectedness” may be nothing new, but science is now taking the field in more surprising directions.
The role of mushrooms in treatment-resistant depression is probably the most familiar. The most helpful analogy I’ve found is that the human brain tends to become set in its thinking patterns over the decades – you see a stimulus (maybe a steering wheel, for instance, in someone who is suffering from PTSD after a car crash), and then your thoughts go down a familiar route, like ski tracks in the snow, to a feeling of anxiety.
Psychedelics can help to reset those patterns, much like a blizzard on a ski run allowing your mind to explore new routes; more aligned to the facts you know intellectually to be true – that not every car journey ends in disaster.
“Psychedelics break habitual thinking and disrupt the default mode network,” says Nutt. “We took 20 people with depression who’d all failed on antidepressants and a single trip resulted in the most powerful treatment ever of resistant depression from a single intervention.”
One patient, quoted in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, reported, “It was like when you defrag the hard drive on your computer. I experienced things being rearranged in my mind, how brilliant is that?” Another commented: “My outlook has changed. I’m more aware now that it’s pointless to get wrapped up in endless negativity. I feel as if I’ve seen a much clearer picture.”
Nutt is also interested in the role of psilocybin in longevity research. “These drugs… all bind to a receptor in the brain called the serotonin 2A receptor. It is what makes them psychedelic. These receptors decline in old age, which is why older adults experience the effects of psilocybin a little less strongly than young people do, but it could be the stimulation of these receptors which gives them promise for older brain health.”
The theory is that by stimulating receptors in the brain that naturally decline with age, the brain may be kept sharper, for longer – and their system-wide anti-inflammatory effects might even ward off some of the diseases of ageing.
Nutt shows me a picture of professor Albert Hofmann – the discoverer of LSD and psilocybin – looking spry at 100 (he died in 2008, at the age of 102). “And the first British psychiatrist to take LSD was professor Joel Elkes, of Birmingham University, in 1953 – he lived to 101.
“You might also find it helps you have a much more comfortable, sensible, productive, humane, connected middle age,” he adds, pointing to psilocybin’s ability to increase subjective mood and mental wellbeing.
A research paper last year in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry looking at the effects of psychedelics on older people reported that “mental health and wellbeing gains were on a par with younger cohorts”. Others in the scientific community, however, err on the side of caution.
Kazem Rahimi, a professor of cardiovascular medicine and population health at the University of Oxford, and editor-in-chief of Heart, a BMJ international journal, is launching a research project into using psilocybin to treat heart disease.
“There is a lot of research that shows a link between the brain and the heart, and what we see is that the prevalence of people having disorders such as depression [in heart failure] is high,” he says. “What we hope is that treating the mood with psychedelics will also improve the heart.”
There are two elements here: the brain/heart axis, a growing area of research which proposes there is strong evidence linking mental health with heart health, and the anti-inflammatory effects. Others believe that the slight increase in heart rate caused by psilocybin could potentially pose risks to anyone with a heart condition.
But when it comes to self-treatment, Rahimi is clear: “We do not make any recommendations for use or not use – this is at the concept stage.”
Nutt points out that the anti-inflammatory effect of psychedelics may also be significant, but advises against self-treatment in this area. “Psilocybin can increase your heart rate a bit, increase your blood pressure a bit – it’s like walking up a flight of stairs,” he says. “If you’re safe doing that, you’re not going to be at risk… but if you had a cardiac incident in the past week, probably not.”
Roger Gunn, the chief science officer at XingImaging, and emeritus professor of molecular neuroimaging at Imperial College London, is another cautious voice. “The evidence for psychedelic effects on neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s is still at a very early stage of research.
“What is relevant for Alzheimer’s is that psychedelics have shown evidence for neuroplasticity in animal models,” he continues. “They have also demonstrated anti-inflammatory effects [neuroinflammation is thought to play a significant role in the development of Alzheimer’s]. Psychedelics, especially psilocybin, have also shown promise in treatment-resistant depression, which is common in patients with Parkinson’s.
“In summary, current evidence for their impact is either preclinical or anecdotal. Psychedelics show some potential as adjunct therapies, especially for mood-related symptoms and possibly for neuroprotection. Clinical trials will be needed to clarify their role in these diseases.”
Joe Vaughan, the global head of media at Athletes Journey Home, a non-profit organisation helping athletes heal from traumatic brain injuries, is involved in exploring the benefits of psychedelics for retired sportspeople. “Psilocybin has been a lifesaver for some people, but is not advisable for others,” he says.
“Rugby player Rory Lamont and former UFC fighter Ian McCall have both been open about benefiting from the use of psilocybin, so we have started a research project in Oregon in the US, because it’s legal [for its therapeutic use] to do that there.”
Magic mushrooms remain illegal to use in most countries, including Britain, although retreat centres are decriminalised in places such as the Netherlands, and they are legal in several US states for wellbeing use, and Australia has rescheduled psilocybin for treatment‐resistant depression.
Terry, a retired music industry figure who lives in Ibiza, is keen to advise caution, especially for inexperienced users. “We always talk about the importance of ‘set and setting’,” he says. “Meaning your mind ‘set’ needs to be secure – don’t take mushrooms if you’re feeling anxious. Many people find combining them with a relaxing herbal supplement like L-Theanine, a great idea.
“Second, the setting: doing them somewhere uncontrollable like a music festival is a terrible idea. You should do them where you feel safe – for me that’s at home – and, if in doubt, do them with someone more experienced.”
So, did that magic mushroom therapy I mentioned at the beginning of this piece help reboot my body and brain? As my session on the roXiva RX1 machine concluded, Ramsay told me that the stroboscopic stimulation had guided my brain through beta and gamma brainwave ranges, which are associated with heightened perception and focused attention.
It is true, the calmness that descended was akin to a successful meditation session, albeit obtained at the flick of a switch. Also, unlike psilocybin, light therapy (which Ramsay offers at centres across London) has the distinct advantage of not requiring a trip to Amsterdam to experience it legally.