For nearly a century, people in distant parts of the world have reported a bizarre experience after eating certain wild mushrooms: seeing dozens or even hundreds of tiny, colorful humans moving through the real world. Now, scientists have identified a mushroom species, Lanmaoa asiatica, responsible for these extraordinary hallucinations in China and the Philippines.
I could have sworn I read something similar a few weeks ago …
In the article they mention no specific substance has been isolated. Though, there are now 2 (or 3) varieties of mushroom each from a different location that provide similar hallucinations, so it might be easier to find the substance if it is shared by all the varieties and if there aren’t a lot of other chemicals in common.
They do know it’s not psilocybin or LSD (in these mushrooms).
Yes, even further than that, there is no known hallucinogen in these mushrooms. Identifying the mechanism could open up some interesting possibilities.
Side note, the onset of the effects is 12-24 hours after the ingestion of the raw or undercooked mushrooms. This delayed onset has resulted in the hypothesis that the active compound is actually a prodrug that gets converted into something else that’s psychoactive as we metabolize it.
I’ve been following this story for a while and find it fascinating. Can’t wait for Hamilton Morris to do a video on it.
It hasn’t been widely available in the west and needs to be rather fresh. Heat destroys this particular effect of the mushroom,for example.
Heat destroys all the other trippy mushrooms, too.
Someone send the weird lanky dude with the vocal fry! (Me pretending that I don’t know his name is Hamilton).
He’s still alive right?
What exactly is destroyed by heat? Is there a compound in the mushroom that has been identified?
In the article they mention no specific substance has been isolated. Though, there are now 2 (or 3) varieties of mushroom each from a different location that provide similar hallucinations, so it might be easier to find the substance if it is shared by all the varieties and if there aren’t a lot of other chemicals in common.
They do know it’s not psilocybin or LSD (in these mushrooms).
Yes, even further than that, there is no known hallucinogen in these mushrooms. Identifying the mechanism could open up some interesting possibilities.
Side note, the onset of the effects is 12-24 hours after the ingestion of the raw or undercooked mushrooms. This delayed onset has resulted in the hypothesis that the active compound is actually a prodrug that gets converted into something else that’s psychoactive as we metabolize it.
I’ve been following this story for a while and find it fascinating. Can’t wait for Hamilton Morris to do a video on it.
Well lsd isn’t found in nature, but it is synthesized from ergot, a grain fungus.
Yeah, that’s what I thought, but the article keeps referencing it like it would be something we’d be likely to find while sciencing those mushrooms.
…since this article was written? Uh, probably not.