Why are magic mushrooms psychoactive?

Magic mushrooms are wild or cultivated mushrooms that contain one or both of two psychoactive, hallucinogenic ingredients called psilocybin and psilocin. Although certain cultures have known the hallucinogenic properties of some mushrooms for centuries, psilocybin was first isolated in 1958 by Dr. read more

Theres several theories to why shrooms contain alkoloids. I agree that psilocybin is some kind of poison. My reasoning is that azures and ps. cyans both contain some chemicals that induce paralysis. To an animal, this would be very frightening. Therefore one can assume that shrooms are poisonous. But on the flip side, some mushrooms are totally edible. read more

There are probably some mushroom-eating animals whose nervous system make a different use of serotonin and for whom psilocybin is a poison. The opposite exists, too - some substances that are deadly neurotoxins for humans but are harmless, or less harmful, to many animals. read more

At least 144 species of mushroom contain the psychoactive ingredient psilocybin, according to a 2005 review in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. Latin America and the Caribbean are home to more than 50 species, and Mexico alone has 53. read more