PSICONNECT Project

Neural Mechanisms of Psilocybin-Induced Altered States of Consciousness

Psilocybin is quickly becoming a promising treatment for mental illness and is being studied widely due to its profound consciousness-altering properties. We want to better understand (1) how the consciousness-altering properties of psilocybin affect the brain and, (2) how contextual factors, such as mindset and environmental setting can impact the psilocybin experience.

What's involved?

We recruited healthy adults ages between 18-55 years residing in Victoria, Australia. Eligible adults were asked to attend our research facilities in Clayton on two occasions to undergo a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Electroencephalography (EEG).

On the second visit, participants were administered a moderate dose of psilocybin before undergoing the MRI and EEG. Throughout the study, they were asked to complete an interview and online questionnaires, where they were asked about their health and wellbeing. All participants were asked to attend one or more sessions designed to prepare participants for the psilocybin experience in a research setting.

What is psilocybin?

Psilocybin is the main psychoactive ingredient in psychoactive mushrooms (also known as “magic-mushrooms”). Psychoactive mushrooms have been used for thousands of years and have a long history of both medicinal and ceremonial use among indigenous peoples in many parts of the world and today are being widely studied in clinical research settings.

Ingesting psilocybin will induce profound changes in consciousness and perception. Psilocybin’s effects last around 4-6 hours, with peak effects occurring around one and a half hours after ingestion. These effects include sensory enhancement, a sense of time changing shifts in visual perception with objects appear to move (flowing patterns and shapes), vivid closed eye imagery, unusual thoughts and speech, personal insight and reflection, and excited mood. The personnel assisting you on the day of drug administration are trained to support psychedelic experiences and the research environment has been designed to be comfortable and aesthetic.

Want to know more?

The PsiConnect Project has concluded the recruitment and data collection stages. Therefore, we are no longer accepting registrations of interest to participate. If you would like to sign up to our newsletter to receive updates about the project outcomes or if you have any questions, please email us at psych.psiconnect@monash.edu. If you are signing up to the newsletter, please subject the email as: I'd like to receive the PsiConnect Newsletter.