News Neuroscience

Psilocybin temporarily dissolves brain networks

Normal synchronous behavior returns a day later

brain scan psilocybin

Brain imaging data show small everyday changes in brain activity in a single person (green and yellow colors). After a dose of psilocybin, activity changes dramatically as neural collectives fall out of sync (yellow, orange and red). After the drug wears off, activity returns to normal.

Sara Moser/Washington University

By Laura Sanders

Inside your skull, your brain hums along with its own unique pattern of activity, a neural fingerprint that’s yours and yours alone.