For generations, people in different parts of the world have described the same unusual experience after eating a mysterious mushroom: vivid visions of tiny people moving through the world around them. New research suggests those reports may have a biological explanation.
Colin Domnauer, a doctoral student in the University of Utah’s School of Biological Sciences, joins Cool Science Radioto discuss research that used DNA sequencing to identify a mushroom species associated with these so-called Lilliputian hallucinations. The findings point to a possible new hallucinogenic compound that has not yet been identified.
Domnauer explains what scientists know about the mushroom, how the research team connected reports from different parts of the world and what comes next in the search for the chemical responsible. The conversation also explores how studying unusual fungi can reveal new insights into the biology of hallucinations.
