Psilocybin generates psychedelic experience by disrupting brain network, study links default mode network desynchronization to subjective effects

Psilocybin generates the psychedelic experience by desynchronizing key brain networks involved in introspective thinking, providing a neurobiological account of how magic mushrooms affect perception of self and time. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine reported that psilocybin temporarily disrupts the brain's default mode network. Participants received a high dose of psilocybin or methylphenidate in controlled conditions, with functional MRI scans taken repeatedly before, during, and after the experience. The default mode network re-established after the acute drug effects, but small differences persisted for weeks. Changes in network disruption tracked the intensity of participants' subjective ratings (including transcendence, connectedness, and awe), while methylphenidate did not show the same effect. The work aims to inform future precision clinical trials for mental illness, while emphasizing that psilocybin is not FDA approved and should not be self-administered without trained medical supervision.