Plants and fungi with psychedelic effects have been in use for thousands of years. While mostly for recreational purposes, magic mushrooms have been used for religious and medicinal benefits as well. Psilocybin, the component derived from magic mushroom extract interacts with the serotonin receptors and can mediate emotions and moods such as anxiety and aggression, cognition, sex, learning memory, appetite along with other biological, neurological and neuropsychiatric processes.
According to a review published in the National Library of Medicine, psilocybin has the safest profile and potential for psychiatric and cancer related treatments. It should be noted however that negative perception and prohibition of the drug has delayed advancement in medical knowledge and published research is limited.
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