Ken Kesey wasn’t just a writer; he was the architect of a revolution.

From stealing LSD out of a Stanford lab to the Acid Tests that birthed the 60s counterculture, Kesey made psychedelics an act of rebellion.

Here’s how it all went down.

🧵 Ken Kesey began as a promising young writer at Stanford.

While volunteering for a CIA-funded experiment on psychoactive drugs (yes, MK-Ultra), he encountered LSD for the first time.

What happened next was a cultural earthquake.

🚐✨

Tobacco kills.

But what if the answer to breaking free lies not in willpower or patches, but in the mystical depths of psychedelics?

A groundbreaking study shows how psilocybin—a psychedelic alkaloid—may be the game-changer in smoking cessation.

Let’s dive in 🧵 Smoking kills 8 million people globally each year, yet traditional smoking cessation tools have success rates below 35%.

Society is desperate for a better solution.

Could psychedelics like psilocybin be the answer?

Can a single dose of psilocybin make you more empathetic?

Science says YES.

New research reveals how this powerful psychedelic shifts our emotional perspective.

But there's a catch involved.

Let's dive in 🧵 Empathy is a cornerstone of human connection—yet it’s often lacking in modern society.

This study explores how psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, affects empathy and moral decision-making.

The results?

Profound.

Scientists have discovered why psychedelics can transform your mind in hours while antidepressants take weeks:

Psychedelics activate your brain's built-in "radical change" pathway.

A thread on the tale of two receptors.

🧵 Your brain has two ways to handle stress: passive endurance or active change.

New research reveals how serotonin orchestrates this through two distinct pathways in your brain, each activated by different types of stress.

The psychedelic renaissance has its rockstars, but few shine brighter than Robin Carhart-Harris.

TIME named him one of the 100 people to shape the future—and for good reason. His work on psilocybin is cracking open the mysteries of the mind.

Let’s dig in.

🧠✨ 🧵 Robin isn’t just the world’s leading psychedelic neuroscientist—he’s the guy who brought hard science to what many dismissed as "hippie nonsense."

His research has helped build the bridge between psychedelics and the future of mental health.

It’s November 22, 1963.

JFK has just been assassinated, and Aldous Huxley, the godfather of psychedelics, is on his deathbed—traversing into the great unknown on 100 micrograms of LSD.

His last request capped a life devoted to exploring the mind.

Let's unpack his legacy 🧵 Huxley's final moments reflect the profound relationship he had with psychedelics.

A cultural pioneer in the Second Wave of psychedelics, Huxley helped bridge ancient spiritual traditions with the modern, scientific understanding of altered states of consciousness.

🧠 BRAIN HEALING BREAKTHROUGH:

Stanford researchers discovered ibogaine therapy dramatically improved cognitive function in Special Forces vets with TBI, even years after injury.

"No other drug has ever been able to alleviate these symptoms." - @NolanRyWilliams, MD

🧵 👇 Why TBI matters:

TBI (traumatic brain injury) is one of the biggest issues facing military vets, affecting 430K vets with symptoms ranging from memory loss to severe depression.

Treatments have BARELY scratched the surface & veterans deserve medicine that works.

Psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD & MDMA can reopen critical learning periods in adult brains...

Windows of heightened plasticity normally closed after childhood!

A thread 🧵 A recent study from @JohnsHopkins tested different psychedelics including psilocybin, LSD, ketamine, MDMA, and ibogaine on mice.

All of them shared one key ability: they could restore the brain's capacity for social reward learning in adulthood!

Psilocybin catalyzes profound shifts in how the brain connects and communicates 🧵 A fascinating study in @RSocPublishing confirmed what many psychonauts intuitively know:

Psilocybin creates profound shifts in brain connectivity.

Researchers used fMRI to peek inside the psychedelic mind during IV administration. 🔬

Groundbreaking research shows how psilocybin reshapes brain networks, offering rapid and sustained relief from depression 🧠

This study analyzed psilocybin vs. traditional antidepressants in two clinical trials with promising results.

Let’s dive in 🧵 Psilocybin therapy reduced brain modularity—essentially increasing communication across the brain’s major networks.

This shift was linked to significant reductions in depression symptoms lasting up to 6 months.

1/ Ever wondered how human consciousness made such a huge leap in such a short evolutionary time?

Let me tell you about one of the wildest theories out there - Terence McKenna's "Stoned Ape" hypothesis 🧠 Here's the mind-bending part:

Around 200,000 years ago, our brain size doubled surprisingly fast.

Traditional evolution doesn't quite explain this quantum leap in consciousness 🤔

Let’s talk about psilocybin mushrooms and clear up some common misconceptions about these powerful medicines 🧵 Myth 1: They make you hallucinate uncontrollably.

Truth: Most people just experience enhanced perception and emotions.

It's why most scientists have moved away from the term "hallucinogenic" as it doesn't accurately reflect the nature of these experiences.