A 35-year-old man who suffers from color blindness managed to see certain colors after eating psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms.
- A man with color blindness says he started seeing colors correctly after ingesting magic mushrooms.
- Doctors have published a scientific article about his experience.
- Color perception would have improved several days after taking the psilocybin mushrooms.
A 30-year-old suffering from deuteranomaly, the form of color blindness that causes a poor perception of green, says he managed to see colors correctly after taking magic mushrooms. This statement greatly intrigued doctors at the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Alabama. They devoted a case study to him published in the journal drug science May 2, 2023.
Psilocybin mushrooms would help see colors
The 35-year-old man, who did not perceive red and green correctly, admitted having taken psilocybin mushrooms, hallucinogens (DMT, 2C-B), ecstasy and even LSD several times in his life. It is during these uses “recreational” that the color blind noticed that eating the mushrooms improved his color perception.
The doctors who studied his case explain: “Immediately prior to mushroom ingestion, the subject self-administered the Ishihara test. Each plate of the test is composed of a mosaic of dots varying in color and size. Within each plate is a number or a combination of lines. Some are not visible to people with color blindness, some are only visible to people who are color blind, and some will appear differently to people with cardiovascular disease than those with normal color vision. “.
The patient retested 12 hours after taking the drug and on other occasions over the next four months. He noted a partial improvement in color perception.
Color blindness and the hallucinogenic mushroom: more research is needed
According to the data collected, the beneficial effect of the mushrooms on color blindness was greatest eight days after taking it, and persisted for at least sixteen days. “This improvement may have lasted longer, although later observations are skewed by additional substance use”specify the researchers in their article.
The scientists who worked on this case suggest that it is likely that the visual phenomena induced by psychedelic mushrooms result from alterations in brain activity rather than a direct effect on the retina or the eye given the delay between product absorption and color perception.
However, they add that a “Systematic exploration of this possible phenomenon is needed to confirm our findings, assess their possibility of generalization, and determine the mechanism of action”.