Let’s explore the difference between psilocybin and LSD in magic mushrooms and understand their similarities. These compounds have psychoactive features, which are categorized in the psychedelics family. They can work together with the 5-HT2A receptors to induce mood, behavior, personality, and cognition changes.

Psilocybin is the main psychoactive element in psilocybin mushrooms, whose application exceeds the written human history. In other words, psilocybin is a prodrug, a substance metabolized by the body into an approved active drug. Through the human digestion process, psilocybin is broken down and converted to psilocin.

LSD, initials stands for Lysergic acid diethylamide, is an acid, a psychedelic medicine initialized in 1938. Since then, this drug has evolved and improved in a significant way.LSD plays the chemical role of being a serotogenic agonist like psilocybin and dopaminergic agonist. This makes it outshine other drugs as it contains few compounds with both serotogenic and dopaminergic.

So, how do they compare?

• LSD impacts serotonin and dopamine receptors, while psilocin is popularly associated with serotonin receptors.
• Since psilocin is the magic Mushrooms, they are grown naturally, while LSD is currently synthesized directly in the laboratory. One consumes LSD as a single concentrated molecule, while one consumes a complete fungus for the psilocin.
• LSD molecules have a long lifespan compared to the psilocin molecules, which stay from 4 to 6 hours after boding with the serotonin receptor.
• Even if they create an interaction with 5-HT2A receptors with high synergy, the impact on other serotonin receptors differs.