N,N-Dimethyltryptamine is a substituted tryptamine that occurs in many plants and animals, including humans, and which is both a derivative and a structural analog of tryptamine. DMT is used as a psychedelic drug and prepared by various cultures for ritual purposes as an entheogen.
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of fungi. The most potent are members of genus Psilocybe, such as P. azurescens, P. semilanceata, and P. cyanescens, but psilocybin has also been isolated from about a dozen other genera. Psilocybin is itself biologically inactive but is quickly converted by the body to psilocin, which has mind-altering effects similar, in some aspects, to those of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT). In general, the effects include euphoria, visual and mental hallucinations, changes in perception, distorted sense of time, and perceived spiritual experiences. It can also cause adverse reactions such as nausea and panic attacks.
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states and/or an apparent expansion of consciousness. Sometimes, they are called classic hallucinogens, serotonergic hallucinogens, or serotonergic psychedelics, and the term psychedelic is sometimes used more broadly to include various types of hallucinogens or those which are atypical or adjacent to psychedelia such as salvia and MDMA, respectively; this article uses the narrower definition of psychedelics. True psychedelics cause specific psychological, visual, and auditory changes, and oftentimes a substantially altered state of consciousness. Psychedelic states are often compared to meditative, psychodynamic or transcendental types of alterations of the mind. The "classical" psychedelics, the psychedelics with the largest scientific and cultural influence, are mescaline, LSD, psilocybin, and DMT. In particular, LSD has long been considered the paradigmatic psychedelic compound to which all other psychedelics are often or usually compared.
Psilocybe cubensis is a species of psilocybin mushroom of moderate potency whose principal active compounds are psilocybin and psilocin. Commonly called shrooms, magic mushrooms, golden halos, cubes, or gold caps, it belongs to the fungus family Hymenogastraceae and was previously known as Stropharia cubensis. It is the best-known psilocybin mushroom due to its wide distribution and ease of cultivation. This mushroom being optimal for home cultivation specifically, as was suggested in the 1970s, is primarily what led to cubensis being the psilocybin mushroom species most common on the black market as a street drug.
Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms, are a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain psilocybin which turns into psilocin upon ingestion. Biological genera containing psilocybin mushrooms include Psilocybe, Panaeolus, Inocybe, Pluteus, Gymnopilus, and Pholiotina. Psilocybin mushrooms have been and continue to be used in indigenous New World cultures in religious, divinatory, or spiritual contexts. They are also used as recreational drugs. They may be depicted in Stone Age rock art in Africa and Europe, but are most famously represented in the Pre-Columbian sculptures and glyphs seen throughout North, Central and South America.
Psilocybe is a genus of gilled mushrooms, growing worldwide, in the family Hymenogastraceae. Most or nearly all species contain the psychedelic compounds psilocybin and psilocin.
Psilocin is a substituted tryptamine alkaloid and a serotonergic psychedelic substance. It is present in most psychedelic mushrooms together with its phosphorylated counterpart psilocybin. Psilocin is a Schedule I drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Acting on the 5-HT2A receptors, psilocin modulates the production and reuptake of serotonin. The mind-altering effects of psilocin are highly variable and subjective and resemble those of LSD and DMT.
DET, also known under its chemical name N,N-diethyltryptamine and as T-9, is a psychedelic drug closely related to DMT and 4-HO-DET. However, despite its structural similarity to DMT, its activity is induced by an oral dose of around 50–100 mg, without the aid of MAO inhibitors, and the effects last for about 2–4 hours.
4-HO-DET, also known as 4-hydroxy-diethyl-tryptamine, CZ-74, is a hallucinogenic drug and psychedelic compound of moderate duration. 4-HO-DET is a substituted tryptamine, structurally related to psilocin, ethocybin, and 4-HO-DIPT.
Baeocystin is a zwitterionic alkaloid and analog of psilocybin. It is found as a minor compound in most psilocybin mushrooms together with psilocybin, norbaeocystin, aeruginascin, and psilocin. Baeocystin is an N-demethylated derivative of psilocybin, and a phosphorylated derivative of 4-HO-NMT (4-hydroxy-N-methyltryptamine). The structures at right illustrate baeocystin in its zwitterionic form.
A sclerotium, is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes. In some higher fungi such as ergot, sclerotia become detached and remain dormant until favorable growth conditions return. Sclerotia initially were mistaken for individual organisms and described as separate species until Louis René Tulasne proved in 1853 that sclerotia are only a stage in the life cycle of some fungi. Further investigation showed that this stage appears in many fungi belonging to many diverse groups. Sclerotia are important in the understanding of the life cycle and reproduction of fungi, as a food source, as medicine, and in agricultural blight management.
Indole alkaloids are a class of alkaloids containing a structural moiety of indole; many indole alkaloids also include isoprene groups and are thus called terpene indole or secologanin tryptamine alkaloids. Containing more than 4100 known different compounds, it is one of the largest classes of alkaloids. Many of them possess significant physiological activity and some of them are used in medicine. The amino acid tryptophan is the biochemical precursor of indole alkaloids.
O-Acetylpsilocin is a semi-synthetic psychoactive drug that has been suggested by David Nichols to be a potentially useful alternative to psilocybin for pharmacological studies, as they are both believed to be prodrugs of psilocin. However, some users report that O-acetylpsilocin's subjective effects differ from those of psilocybin and psilocin. Additionally, some users prefer 4-AcO-DMT to natural psilocybin mushrooms due to feeling fewer adverse side effects such as nausea and heavy body load, which are more frequently reported in experiences involving natural mushrooms. It is the acetylated form of the psilocybin mushroom alkaloid psilocin and is a lower homolog of 4-AcO-MET, 4-AcO-DET, 4-AcO-MiPT and 4-AcO-DiPT.
Inocybe aeruginascens is a member of the genus Inocybe which is widely distributed in Europe. The species was first documented by I. Ferencz in Ócsa, Hungary on June 15, 1965.
Aeruginascin or N,N,N-trimethyl-4-phosphoryloxytryptamine is an indoleamine derivative which occurs naturally within the mushrooms Inocybe aeruginascens and Pholiotina cyanopus, and Psilocybe cubensis. Aeruginascin is the N-trimethyl analogue of psilocybin. It is closely related to the frog skin toxin bufotenidine (5-HTQ), a potent 5-HT3 receptor agonist, but the aeruginascin metabolite 4-HO-TMT shows strong binding at the 5-HT2 receptors similar to psilocin. The first scientific literature about the pharmacological effects of aeruginascin is from a study published by Gartz in 1989. Across 23 analyzed cases of accidental hallucinogenic mushroom poisonings, people who had ingested the mushroom Inocybe aeruginascens reported only euphoric experiences. This is in contrast to the slight and in some cases extremely dysphoric experiences reported from the accidental ingestion of non aeruginascin containing mushrooms (containing solely psilocybin and psilocin).
Hallucinogens are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized as either being psychedelics, dissociatives, or deliriants.
Panaeolus microsporus is a species of mushroom in the Bolbitiaceae family. It is a psychoactive species of the Panaeolus genus, containing alkaloids like psilocybin and psilosin. All Panaeolus species produce serotonin and serotonin derivatives.
Substituted tryptamines, or serotonin analogues, are organic compounds which may be thought of as being derived from tryptamine itself. The molecular structures of all tryptamines contain an indole ring, joined to an amino (NH2) group via an ethyl (−CH2–CH2−) sidechain. In substituted tryptamines, the indole ring, sidechain, and/or amino group are modified by substituting another group for one of the hydrogen (H) atoms.
Magic truffles are the sclerotia of psilocybin mushrooms that are not technically the same as "mushrooms". They are masses of mycelium that contain the fruiting body which contains the hallucinogenic chemicals psilocybin and psilocin.
Psilocybin therapy is the use of psilocybin in treating a range of mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, addictions, obsessive compulsive disorder, and psychosis. It is one of several forms of psychedelic therapy under study. Psilocybin was popularized as a psychedelic recreational drug in the 1970s and was classified as a Schedule I drug by the DEA. Research on psilocybin as a medical treatment was restricted until the 1990s because of the sociocultural fear of dependence on this drug. As of 2022, psilocybin is the most commonly researched psychedelic due to its safety and low potential for abuse and dependence. Clinical trials are being conducted at universities and there is evidence confirming the use of psilocybin in the treatment of depression, PTSD and end of life anxiety.
