Fungi may help improve mental health

Hallucinogen used against depression

LONDON— Magic mushrooms could provide a new treatment for depression, according to a leading psychiatrist who is calling for a change in the law to allow him to conduct the first clinical trial of the hallucinogenic drug.

Professor David Nutt of Imperial College London, claims that a dose — equivalent to five magic mushrooms — of the key psychedelic ingredient in the fungi can switch off parts of the brain involved in depression.

In a small-scale study by his team, volunteers reported that their mood improved for up to two weeks after being injected with the drug.

Nutt, who is president of the British Neuroscience Association and a former U.K. government adviser on drug misuse, has been given 500,000 pounds ($778,000) of funding to conduct the first clinical trial with a purified form of the illegal drug.

He said that the trial, which will involve 60 patients, would use a synthetically manufactured form of psilocybin, the psychedelic ingredient in about 200 species known commonly as magic mushrooms.

Nutt said that drug laws, which make it illegal to pick magic mushrooms and which require manufacturers to hold a licence to make psilocybin, had made it difficult to get hold of the drug to conduct the trial.

He said: “Using brainimaging technology, it is possible to see that certain parts of the brain are overactive in depression.

“Our imaging work showed to our surprise that psilocybin shut off this network. Our normal volunteers also felt better for a period of weeks afterwards.”

Scans showed that activity reduced in a key area known to be overactive in people with depression.

Our normal volunteers also felt better for a period of weeks afterwards PROFESSOR DAVID NUTT