BR AIN POWER
Travels to the
ease and dignity. With this in mind, the prospect of easing anxiety about the complex process of dying sounded like an idea worth investigating. What surprised me as I dove into the recent resurgence of scientific research is that psychedelics offer a range of benefits for older adults. I was surprised to learn, for example, that psychedelics can reduce chronic inflammation. Prolonged, systemic inflammation The one voyage I absolutely must take before I die will transport is a dangerous condition in which the entire body responds as if me not to exotic geographic locales, but to unexplored regions it was under attack. Systems get stuck in “fight-or-flight” mode. of my mind. I follow in the footsteps of Aldous Huxley who Resources needed for normal functions are redirected toward longed “to visit the mind’s antipodes and do some visionary protective responses. Body and brain slowly starve. Chronic sightseeing.” inflammation is increasingly recognized as a major risk factor I want to experience a trip on psilocybin. for a range of age-related diseases and debilities, BY MICHAEL C. Psilocybin belongs to a class of non-addictive including dementia. PATTERSON drugs called psychedelics, which includes LSD, There’s more: Psychedelics also promote mescaline, peyote, and ayahuasca. Psychedelics have earned brain plasticity. Research has shown that psychedelics stimulate their notoriety because of their consistent ability to provide a the brain’s ability to change and grow. A meta-analysis or recent transcendent and mystical experience. I’ll return to this topic research reported, for example, that a single administration of a in a bit. psychedelic drug produces rapid changes in plastic mechanisms My recent interest in psilocybin was piqued by its reported in the brain, “on a molecular, neuronal, synaptic, and dendritic ability to diminish the fear of dying. I would like to die with level.” Psychedelics stimulate the growth of multiple brain
Antipodes of the Mind
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3rd Act magazine | fall 2022
www.3rdActMag.com
