Mushroom that causes 'tiny people' visions traced to one species
Researchers have identified the mushroom species Lanmaoa asiatica as the cause of 'mushroom madness,' a phenomenon involving visions of tiny people reported in Papua New Guinea, China, and the Philippines. Despite the discovery, the specific hallucinogenic compound within the mushroom remains unknown to science.
Why it matters
Identifying the biological source of these visions solves a long-standing anthropological mystery and opens new avenues for pharmacological research.
In 1934, Western scientists first heard reports from Papua New Guinea of wild mushrooms causing visions of tiny people, a phenomenon called "mushroom madness." Nearly a century later, DNA sequencing has confirmed that a single, identical mushroom species causes these same hallucinations in communities thousands of miles apart in China and the Philippines.As reported by Science and published in the journal Mycologia, researchers at the University of Utah (U) linked these visions to Lanmaoa asiatica, a wild bolete mushroom.Surprisingly, chemical and genetic analysis showed that L. asiatica contains no known psychoactive compounds, including psilocybin.
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