How Microdosing May Rewire Your Brain
A Disorganized Brain
Our rational mind might think that we should have a perfectly organized and controlled brain, but often that is exactly what leads us to our own unhappiness. For example, someone with depressive symptoms might ruminate over the same (organized) depressive thoughts day in and day out exacerbating their depressive symptoms. Science has shown that psychedelics create a more disorganized brain environment, allowing for new perspectives and ideas to shine through! The moral of the story is this: leaving the bed undone and letting go of control might be the answer when it comes to our mental health, and psychedelics help us do this. It’s not that we stop striving for better but letting go of control over our rational mind might help us to have a new perspective on things out of our control, and open space to act on the things we can control.
New Relationships between lobes:
Another finding that has been shown on brain scans of those under the effects of psychedelics is that this new disorganized brain environment allows some regions that we normally keep in the background (visual/hearing) to come to center stage, and new relationships between the lobes begin to form. This helps explain the visual hallucinations that might be experienced by people who take larger doses of Psilocybin or LSD. In other words, the information passing through the region of the brain responsible for vision or for hearing will be emphasized, while the more executive functions of the brain are subdued. If you consider what might happen on a micro scale (think micro-dose), these regions are now getting more of a voice than our conscious brain allows, and often presents bright, new, exciting perspectives that simply have no place to shine when we are in our normal, controlled state of consciousness.
Serotonin Receptor Activation
Serotonin is known as the “happy” neurotransmitter. Psilocybin activates serotonin receptors which can improve mood, memory, sexual appetite and sleep. Activating these receptors with psilocybin can reinforce these neural pathways and overtime can be more easily accessible. Think of a neural pathway as the path you walk while you are hiking, every hike that has been taken before you has only reinforced this path to create a clear and defined pathway for you to walk. The brain is wired so that it defaults to what is known, or what is familiar, so the more frequently and consistently a path is taken, the more natural it becomes. Now ask yourself this, imagine if every day you took a walk down the path of being present, accepting what is and acting on the things that matter to you most, the more times you walk down this path, and the more frequently you take this path, the clearer, more focused and strengthened it becomes.
Growth of New Neurons
To continue with the hiking analogy, now imagine your neurons are trees, because well, they do look like trees! The base of the neuron, called a dendrite, looks like the branches coming out of a tree. Research has shown that Psychedelics such as Psilocybin stimulate the growth of brain cells, or neurons. Not only do these magical fungi stimulate neuronal growth, but they also increase the rate at which they are fired, meaning these paths to happiness and improved mood are happening at consistent and rapid rates!
Now that you have a better idea of some of the ways Micro dosing can help to rewire your brain you can apply this knowledge while preparing for your next micro dosing journey. It helps to know that whatever intentions you set before your journey are already creating the pathways that will be reinforced as you allow the fungi to work their magic. Keep in mind, it Is a collaborative effort and these drugs while powerful and magical do not make the changes for you!
Citations:
Daws, R.E., Timmermann, C., Giribaldi, B. et al. Increased global integration in the brain after psilocybin therapy for depression. Nat Med 28, 844–851 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01744-z
Nutt D, Carhart-Harris R. The Current Status of Psychedelics in Psychiatry. JAMA Psychiatry. 2021;78(2):121–122. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.2171
Activation of Serotonin 2A Receptors Underlies the Psilocybin-Induced Effects on α Oscillations, N170 Visual-Evoked Potentials, and Visual Hallucinations
Michael Kometer, André Schmidt, Lutz Jäncke, Franz X. Vollenweider