A psychedelic found in mushrooms is emerging as a potential treatment for alcohol use disorders. This possibility is due to a compound the body converts the psychedelic into called psilocin, but psilocin’s mechanisms remain unclear. Researchers, led by Sarah Magee and Melissa Herman at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explored whether psilocin targets neurons in the central amygdala involved in emotional processing and stress to alter alcohol use in their JNeurosci paper. Herman emphasizes that preclinical work like this is necessary for filling gaps in knowledge about drug mechanisms, especially in the field of psychedelic research.

Focusing on female mice because they drink more alcohol than male mice, the researchers discovered that psilocin dampened the activity

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