Many people who take psychedelic drugs like shrooms or LSD describe one aspect of the experience as a “compromised self of ‘self,'” or a breaking down of the familiar feeling of a boundary between yourself and the universe. It can be a moment of profound breakthrough, or a horrible experience — a “bad trip” — that turns you off the substance forever.
Now, neuroscientists from the Netherlands’ Maastricht University think they’ve uncovered how psilocybin, the active chemical in shrooms, causes that mind-bending sensation that researchers call “ego dissolution” — findings they say could help explain the growing evidence for the therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs.
