So-called magic mushrooms really do induce a sensation of dreaming, according to a new scientific study.
The research on mushrooms was unveiled as other studies warned of the dangers of the excesses associated with modern partying.
These include serious illnesses caused by head-banging to heavy metal bands and the effects of the party drug Ecstasy.
At Imperial College, London, UK, researchers studied the effects of a chemical called psilocybin, found in hallucinogenic mushrooms.
They report a pattern of activity in the brain similar to that in dreaming – when the "primitive" brain network linked to emotional thinking becomes active.
They have reported their findings in Human Brain Mapping.
Researcher Dr Robin Carhart-Harris “I was fascinated to see similarities between the pattern of brain activity in a psychedelic state and the pattern of brain activity during dream sleep, especially as both involve the primitive areas of the brain linked to emotions and memory.
"We will also be looking at the possibility that psilocybin may help alleviate symptoms of depression by allowing patients to change their rigidly pessimistic patterns of thinking.
"Psychedelics were used for therapeutic purposes in the 1950’s and 1960’s but now we are finally beginning to understand their action in the brain and how this can inform how to put them to good use."
* A report in the Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery links Ecstasy to an incident in which a patient suffered a rupture of the spinal cord artery, a potentially fatal problem.
The teenager to whom this happened made a full recovery after treatment at a hospital in Florida, USA.
* In Germany doctors reported treating a man of 50 after he indulged in "head-banging" at a concert by heavy metal rockers Motorhead.
Reporting in The Lancet, the doctors say the man was diagnosed with bleeding in the brain four weeks after the concert. He said he had suffered worsening headaches for two weeks.
Dr Ariyan Pirayesh Islamian, from Hannover Medical School, said: "This case serves as evidence in support of Motörhead’s reputation as one of the most hardcore rock’n’roll acts on earth, if nothing else because of their music’s contagious speed drive and the hazardous potential for headbanging fans to suffer brain injury."
Tagliazucchi, E. et al. Enhanced repertoire of brain dynamical states during the psychedelic experience. Human Brain Mapping 3 July 2014 [abstract]
Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery 4 July 2014; doi 10.1136/bcr-2014-011248 [abstract]
The Lancet 4 July 2014; [abstract]
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