How Psilocybin Affects the 5 Senses

Magic mushrooms and truffles contain psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychoactive compound that makes us trip. And: what is a ‘psychedelic trip’ if not a temporary altering of the senses? For many people, the perception-altering powers of psychedelics are one of their main draws. But have you ever wondered what actually causes these changes? 

Well, the responsibility falls mainly at the feet of the aforementioned psychedelic superstar psilocybin — more specifically its prodrug psilocin. Psilocin binds itself to the brain’s serotonin receptors, thus simulating the effects of the neurotransmitter. This is what triggers our changes in perception. You see, shrooms don’t directly change our senses, what they actually do is modify how your brain processes external stimuli. This causes heightened or altered sensations, as well as intensified emotions. 

How Psilocybin Affects the Five Senses

So now you know a bit of the ‘why’, it’s time to dig into how magic mushrooms affect each of the 5 senses individually. During a psychedelic trip you may experience just one, or a combination of these sensory changes. You may find that different strains of magic mushrooms or truffles may excite specific senses more than others. You may find that your experience becomes more sensorially affecting depending on the dose you take (with higher doses tending to have more significant effects.) It’s all about experimenting until you find your sweet-spot!

How Psilocybin Affects Our Hearing

Psilocybin enhances sound. Of course, music is the first thing we tend to think of in this case — but the sounds of everyday life when on shrooms can also be astounding. If you trip in nature, you will find yourself transfixed by bird song, the wind in the trees, the sound of moving water. This phenomena is not caused by an actual physical change in the ear but rather how our brain processes sound when under the influence of psilocybin. Additionally your emotional reaction to these sounds is likely to be heightened. 

Because of this aural influence, people take great care in planning and compiling music playlists to soundtrack their shroom trips. Music can trigger memories, intensify emotional experiences and send us on a journey. Additionally, you may get deeper into your favorite tunes than ever before; noticing baselines, harmonies or rhythms you previously didn’t, or the meanings of lyrics might hit harder this time.  

How Psilocybin Affects Our Sight

An enduring piece of shroom ‘folklore’ is that they produce hallucinations. However, this isn’t exactly the case. The things you see during a trip are an altered representation of things that exist in real life. It is psilocybin that has drastically altered the way you perceive them. Yes, your eyes are playing tricks on you. 

Colors appear more vivid, intricate oscillating details emerge on the plainest of surfaces, geometric shapes appear with your eyes open, closed — or both! But, as with sound, psilocybin does not affect how your eyes actually function. What it actually does, is temporarily change the way your prefrontal cortex processes the information it receives from your retinas. 

The famous fractals that many people see while tripping actually have a scientific reasoning behind them. It is all related to how the striate cortex in the brain decodes visual information. This area contains cells that store information about geometric shapes. When psychedelics compromise its business-as-usual, some cells can become overactive, causing you to see geometric patterns. 

How Psilocybin Affects Our Sense of Touch

Psilocybin can cause heightened perception of, and connection to, your body. While tripping you may find yourself caressing different textures — especially soft, fluffy ones (pets are ideal!) However, once again, it is not psilocybin changing your sense of touch intrinsically, rather it is altering how your brain processes these stimuli. Although an under-explored area, there is one study that focuses on the way magic mushrooms affect how we process touch. In a 2022 study, it was found that psilocybin can decrease a brainwave response called ‘mismatch negativity’ which can make individuals feel either more unified or more detached from their bodies. This finding positions psilocybin as a potential treatment for mental illness that are based on one’s body image and perceptions. 

How Psilocybin Affects Our Sense of Smell

Less common, but still notable is when psilocybin gets funky with our sense of smell. Usually this comes in the form of olfactory intensification (also known as hyperosmia) which is the sensation of smells being significantly richer, stronger, and more noticeable than they are when you are not high. Whether this experience is positive or negative depends on what the smell is, and what the tripper might think of it in normal life. For example, ‘nice’ smells, like freshly cut grass, or bread baking might be euphoric. On the other hand, smells such as damp or body odor could become overpoweringly yucky — even to the point of causing nausea or vomiting. 

How Psilocybin Affects Our Sense of Taste

Hallucinations that involve the sense of taste are known glamorously as gustatory hallucinations. A common example when tripping on psychedelics is one’s saliva tasting sweet and glutinous like syrup or molten sugar. Another is a strong metallic taste. These can be pleasant or unpleasant depending on the individual. Gustatory intensification is when the taste of food or drink is enhanced. This can result in delight (and a desire to eat and drink) or disgust (from lack of appetite, to nausea, or vomiting.) It’s not just psychedelics that cause this either — I mean we’ve all heard about the munchies right…?

Magic Mushrooms Can Also Cause Synesthesia 

Synesthesia is a rare and intriguing condition in which more than one of your senses responds to stimuli, such as associating specific colors with specific sounds or tastes. Fascinatingly, many people report temporary synesthesia when tripping on psychedelics. This happens because of the increased serotonin levels cause the brain — for want of a better phrase — to get a bit messy, and start connecting regions that are not usually connected. When this happens the brain struggles to process sensory information properly, thus producing the trippy synesthesia experience!

Magic Mushrooms and the 5 Senses: The Takeaway

• Magic mushrooms and truffles contain psilocybin which temporarily alters our senses.
• This is caused by psilocybin’s prodrug psilocin binding to our serotonin receptors in the brain.
• Psilocybin affects our hearing by causing aural hallucinations and intensifying music and day-to-day sounds.
• Psilocybin affects our vision by changing the way our brain processes information from our retinas. This can cause visual hallucinations, intensified colours, and geometric shapes to appear.
• Psilocybin affects our sense of touch by making us feel either more unified or detached from our bodies. This can intensify sensorial enjoyment (cue rubbing fluffy pillows and blankets!)
• Psilocybin affects our sense of smell by intensifying how we process smells. This can make things smell heavenly, or on the other hand — gross.
• Psilocybin affects our sense of taste by causing gustatory hallucinations. This can make even our saliva taste different (i.e noticeable!) It can also make food taste out-of-this-world delicious — or totally kill your appetite.
• Sometimes magic mushroom trips can cause synesthesia. This is when your brains wires get a bit crossed, and you experience the bizarre magic of tasting colours or certain words having a specific hue.
• How your senses are affected by your psychedelic trip depends on a few factors: your dosage, your strain of mushroom or truffle, and your individual disposition. The way to hone your sense-altering skills is by experimenting (responsibly!) until you find your sweet spot!