Magic Mushrooms May Permanently Alter Personality

[ukhudshanskiy]

Вy Stephanie Pappas

Just one strong dose of hallucinogenic mushrooms can alter a person’s personality for more than a year and perhaps permanently, a new study finds.

People given psilocybin, the compound in “magic mushrooms” that causes hallucinations and feelings of transcendence, demonstrated a more “open” personality after their experience, an effect that persisted for at least 14 months. Openness is a psychological term referring to an appreciation for new experiences. People who are more open tend to have broad imaginations and value emotion, art and curiosity.

This personality warp is unusual, said study researcher Katherine MacLean, because personality rarely changes much after the age of 25 or 30. (In fact, one recent study found that by first grade our personalities are set pretty much for life.)…

(read more: Live Science)   (photo: user Cactu via Wikipedia)

for those of you who like to read and who happen to understand German:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_dunkle_Seite_des_Mondes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Suter

Originally posted at http://ukhudshanskiy.dreamwidth.org/1069589.html.