Brain scans of people under the influence of the psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have given scientists the most detailed picture to date of how psychedelic drugs work. The findings of two new studies identify areas of the brain where activity is suppressed by psilocybin and suggest that...

Researchers have identified the pattern of cell signaling induced by antipsychotic drugs in a complex composed of two brain receptors linked to schizophrenia. The discovery should allow researchers to predict the effectiveness of novel compounds for the treatment of schizophrenia and other serious mental disorders and may accelerate the development...

A single high dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called "magic mushrooms," was enough to bring about a measurable personality change lasting at least a year in nearly 60 percent of the participants in a new study, according to researchers.

Scientists have shown for the first time that the neurotransmitter serotonin uses a specialized signaling pathway to mediate biological functions that are distinct from the signaling pathways used by hallucinogenic substances. The new findings could have a profound effect on the development of new therapies for a number of disorders,...

Health and social services are facing a new challenge, as many illicit drug users get older and face chronic health problems and a reduced quality of life. UK researchers interviewed people aged 49 to 61 in contact with voluntary sector drug treatment services. The study, plus wider research, suggest that...

In the first human study of its kind to be published in more than 35 years, researchers found psilocybin, an hallucinogen which occurs naturally in "magic mushrooms," can safely improve the moods of patients with advanced-stage cancer and anxiety.

Recent research into the availability of 'Spice' drugs online raises new concerns about its mood altering effects.

Drug users are well informed about the harms associated with the drugs they use, and perceive alcohol and tobacco to be amongst the most dangerous substances, according to a new survey.

Researchers in the UK will release new evidence about the dangers of 'Spice' drugs -- herbal mixes widely sold as an ‘incense’ or legal substitute for cannabis.

A clinical report from Dresden supports the impression that the street drug "Spice Gold" is strongly addictive. Researchers describe a young man who developed physical withdrawal symptoms after regular consumption of this designer drug, accompanied by a dependence syndrome.

A hallucinogenic compound found in a plant indigenous to South America and used in shamanic rituals regulates a mysterious protein that is abundant throughout the body, researchers have discovered.

In a follow-up to research showing that psilocybin, a substance contained in "sacred mushrooms," produces substantial spiritual effects, scientists report that those beneficial effects appear to last more than a year.

Burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right under our noses.

Brain-imaging studies performed in animals provide researchers with clues about why an increasingly popular recreational drug that causes hallucinations and motor-function impairment in humans is abused. Using trace amounts of Salvia divinorum -- also known as "salvia," a Mexican mint plant -- scientists found that the drug's behavior in the...

Researchers have identified a new receptor complex in the brain that responds to several types of antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia and also reacts to hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD. The receptor complex could help provide new treatments for schizophrenia and other diseases associated with psychosis.

A new study reveals more than 3 million adolescents and young adults have used non-prescription cough and cold medicines to get high at least once in their lifetimes. The level is comparable to LSD, and more than the reported use of methamphetamines, among those aged 12 to 25. White youths...

Drugs that treat depression and schizophrenia might not be triggering the most appropriate response in brain cells, new research suggests. This study examined the early chemical events that happen when a particular serotonin receptor on brain cells is stimulated by serotonin and by a hallucinogenic agent thought to mimic serotonin....

Scientists have identified genes that produce the poison of the death cap mushroom -- a unique pathway previously unknown in fungi. Reported in today's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The work not only solves a mystery of how some mushrooms make the toxin -- but also sheds light...

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have discovered why some individuals may be predisposed to drug addiction and believe it may lead to better treatments for this brain disorder.

The brain mechanism underlying the mind-bending effects of hallucinogens such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin has been discovered by neuroscientists. They said their discoveries not only shed light on the longtime mystery of how hallucinogens work, but that the findings also offer a pathway to understanding the function of drugs...

For the past five years, Dr. Erika Dyck has been unearthing some intriguing facts related to a group of pioneering psychiatrists who worked in Saskatchewan, Canada in the '50s and '60s. Among other things, the University of Alberta history of medicine professor has found records of the psychiatrists' research that...

Using unusually rigorous scientific conditions and measures, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown that the active agent in "sacred mushrooms" can induce mystical/spiritual experiences descriptively identical to spontaneous ones people have reported for centuries.

Join me and 8 other contributing authors of "The Sync Book" to discuss (and experience) synchronicity during an interactive multimedia event, opening with the NYC premiere of Radio8Ball, a musical divination format where questions are answered by picking songs at random and interpreting the randomly chosen song...

 

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The following is excerpted from The Buddha Walks Into a Bar: A Guide to Life for a New Generation, available from Shambhala Publications. 

 

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In recent months there have been a number of YouTube videos posted from around the world of unusual sounds emanating from either the ground or sky, with no clear point of origin. Videos have been posted from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Costa Rica, Budapest, Taipei, Chile,...

 

The following was originally presented as a lecture at Duke University, January 2010; originally printed in Trigger93: The Word, Volume 1.

 

"The brain is just the weight of God," wrote Emily Dickinson,

For, lift them, pound to pound,

And they will differ, if they do,

As syllable from sound.[1]

 

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