Study Finds Psilocybin Increases Optimism

In the recent study, carried out by researchers at Monash University (AU), psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms and truffles, was found to increase optimism and motivation in rats.

Happier, more productive rats? — you might say — So what? Well, the researchers suggest that these effects could be replicated in humans to treat depression and other mental health conditions.  That’s what.

Psilocybin Helped Rats to ‘Believe in Themselves’ 😉

Using computational modeling, the scientists observed that the rats who were given psilocybin were more likely to engage in reward-based tasks, which indicated their optimism was enhanced (i.e. their little ratty brains believed they could achieve their goals, so they went for them!)

These effects on their behavior were found to be long-lasting, and may help us to understand how psilocybin addresses core symptoms of depression, such as apathy, withdrawal, or low engagement. These findings are a promising step toward understanding the deeper mechanisms of psychedelics. The more we can understand of them, the more effectively they could be used to treat mental health disorders in humans. 

Psilocybin Is Effective, But We Are Not Quite Sure Why…

Psilocybin has been shown to hold immense promise as a treatment for conditions as wide-reaching as depression, addiction, anorexia, PTSD, and even chronic physical pain. However, the information processing mechanisms affected by psilocybin are not clearly understood. Basically, it does the ‘thing’. But we don’t yet quite know how, or why…

The findings, published in Translational Psychiatry, show that psilocybin may be helpful for confronting the core symptoms of major depression and other conditions that are characterized by withdrawal, reduced engagement, and apathy. 

The study was led by Monash University Ph.D candidate Elizabeth (Beth) Fisher, working with Professor Jakob Hohwy from the Monash Center for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, and Dr. Claire Foldi from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute. 

“More Motivated to Explore“

Professor Hohwy explained that the results are a promising step towards understanding the mechanisms of how psychedelics may work to change the brain, and increase engagement post-treatment.  

“Our team found that rats given psilocybin were more motivated to explore their environment and perform reward-based tasks.” Howhy said: “These exciting results show the mechanisms of how psilocybin may work to increase optimism in an animal model, which we hope may translate to humans as well.”

This Study Will Trigger Further Research

Fisher added that the results of this study should galvanize further research to confirm these effects in human studies, saying;

 “Insights into the mechanisms of psilocybin allow us to unpack who may benefit from psychedelic therapies as well as who these treatments may not be beneficial for.“

“With many people around the world affected by depression, our ultimate goal is to help build understanding of how psilocybin might be used to treat core symptoms people experience, such as diminished optimism, apathy and withdrawal from the world around them.”

Psilocybin Increases Optimism: The Summary

• Psilocybin increases optimistic engagement and motivation to explore, over time, in rats.
• Post-acute (i.e. after the psychedelic experience) effects of psilocybin have been associated with increased positive mood, and decreased pessimism. (Sounds like the fabled post-trip after-glow to us!)
• Although clinical trials that explore the effects of psilocybin of psychiatric disorders have shown promising results, the information processing mechanisms (or how it works) are not well understood. 
• The computer model revealed that after receiving psilocybin the rats achieved more rewards through increased task engagement. 
• The rats were more likely to ‘try’ as their aversion to the possibility of loss was reduced. 
• These findings suggest that psilocybin may create an ‘optimism bias’, when ‘belief updating’ is altered. 
• These findings have translational potential to humans who have conditions that are characterized by apathy or withdrawal. 

(A Word on Optimism)

You might be forgiven, with phrases like “increased optimism” being thrown around, for thinking that the rats became smiling, over-enthusiastic critters fixated on rewards when given psilocybin. Not so.

While ‘optimism’ is a slightly clunky word to describe the observed effects, what it basically means is that the rats were uplifted to try, and less scared of failure. This did not mean they didn’t consider failure to be an option. It just mattered less. So they were more likely to put themselves out there — and thus received more rewards than if they didn’t.

Getting ‘Out of the Loop’

Many people who suffer from mental health conditions like depression get into self fulfilling loops of pessimism. The mindset can become ‘I always fail anyway, so what’s the point in trying?’ This becomes a trap of negativity. This new research from Monash University suggests that psilocybin could effectively tackle this aspect of depressive or anxious mental health conditions. For the millions who suffer, future treatments based on this research could be life-saving.