Psilocybin and psilocin are known as psychedelic tryptamines and they have very similar molecular structures to a key chemical messenger called serotonin. Serotonin has some very important functions in our brains and digestive systems, including large influences over-regulating our moods, sleep cycles and stress-coping mechanisms.
Due to this similarity in molecular structure, psilocin molecules activate the same receptors in the brain that serotonin activates, particularly at a specific receptor site known as 5HT2A. This particular receptor mediates many different functions in our minds; like mood, imagination, learning and perception.
A large portion of these 5HT2A receptors are located in cells in the cortex; an area of the brain associated with reasoning and rational thought. These cells are also quite long — they span an area of the brain larger than many other cells and therefore have a wider influence over brain activity.
Psilocin sits into these receptors and activates them, thereby producing the characteristic ‘trip’ of a magic mushroom experience, which can include changes in mood, imagination and perception. Recent research has also shown psilocin has an effect on a part of the brain known as the Default Mode Network (DMN).
Our DMN’s are like our brain’s main information highways. They act as consolidation centres while we go about our daily lives, compiling information quietly in the background. They also allow us to ‘time travel’ in our minds, giving us the ability to think back to the past and plan into the future. Some also theorise our DMN’s are home to our individualities; that they house our senses of ‘self’.