New Study Suggests Psilocybin May Significantly Improve Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease

New Study Suggests Psilocybin May Significantly Improve Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease Psilocybin—or magic mushrooms—has been used by Indigenous cultures for thousands of years for religious and healing rituals. However, in the West, the hallucinogenic fungi have been largely stigmatized and criminalized throughout much of the 20th century. Research into psychedelics came to an abrupt halt after they were outlawed in the 1960s and ’70s, but recent […] READ: New Study Suggests Psilocybin May Significantly Improve Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease

Art Jun 30, 2026 0 5 Add to Reading List

New Study Suggests Psilocybin May Significantly Improve Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease

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Psilocybin—or magic mushrooms—has been used by Indigenous cultures for thousands of years for religious and healing rituals. However, in the West, the hallucinogenic fungi have been largely stigmatized and criminalized throughout much of the 20th century. Research into psychedelics came to an abrupt halt after they were outlawed in the 1960s and ’70s, but recent years have seen renewed interest in their therapeutic potential.

Published just last month, a study in Frontiers in Neuroscience highlights the potential benefits of psilocybin for people living with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers studied a Japanese-American woman in her 80s who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 10 years earlier. Over the last five years, her condition had declined significantly. She needed help with everyday tasks, struggled to walk on her own, experienced chronic incontinence, and could barely communicate with loved ones beyond a few monosyllabic words.

The patient was given a potent dose of 5 grams of a psilocybin strain called Enigma. For most people, that dose can lead to a powerful and wide-ranging experience, but in this case, the reported effects for the patient with Alzheimer’s were incredibly positive.

According to the report, the woman entered a deep, sleep-like state for several hours after taking the dose, and also experienced sweating and a fever. But around 19 hours later—in the “psilocybin afterglow”—she suddenly became more alert, and even started speaking. She continued talking for hours, sharing memories and details from her life in what the authors describe as “autobiographical speech.” In the days that followed, the positive changes reportedly continued. Her working memory came back, she started smiling and making eye contact again, and she became more engaged overall. Even her physical symptoms improved—she regained bladder control, moved more independently, was able to dress herself, and remained noticeably more alert for weeks afterwards.

The woman then took a smaller dose one month later and once again experienced improvement. The scientists revealed that she showed “greater verbal expressivity, improved facial mimicry, spontaneous humor, emotionally valenced autobiographical imagery, and increased agility while walking.” According to the report, she even spontaneously expressed, “It is pleasant to come here,” and described seeing a vision of herself surfing with her son on a peaceful island.

The incredible results indicate that even in late-stage neurodegeneration, some brain function may still remain, and could temporarily become accessible under certain conditions. While most modern therapies for patients with Alzheimer’s focus on retaining abilities and memories that still remain, studies like this suggest that it’s possible that those “lost” abilities are only suppressed. It proves that psilocybin could, in some cases, help reawaken or reconnect these dormant capacities.

This is just one study with a single patient, but it could open the door to more research into how psychedelics might help millions more.

Read the fascinating report on Frontiers in Neuroscience.