According to a new case study, a 35-year-old man with red-green colour blindness experienced improvements in distinguishing different colours after eating magic mushrooms. Moreover, although colour blindness is genetic psilocybin can change the abilities of visual processing.
The individual had mild deuteranomaly. It is the most typical type of colour blindness. This disorder is due to a flaw in medium wavelength sensitive cones. Moreover, it affects 5% of men and 4% of women.
Seld-Administered Ishihara Test
The individual decided to self-administer the Ishihara Test to record the effects. Since he had seen enhanced colour vision after experimenting with various psychedelic drugs in the past, this test is used for determining colour blindness. Moreover, it entails a series of mosaics made up of coloured dots. The dots are organised to form shapes that can only be seen by people who can distinguish between the various colours.
The participant scored 14 on the Ishihara Test right before the mushroom dose, which is considered the baseline. Normal colour vision is usually 17 or higher, whereas colour vision deficiency is 13 or lower. Despite the fact that the individual had previously been diagnosed with minor red-green colour, a score of 14 is not enough.
Right after the test, the subject took 5 grams of dried magic mushrooms. He reported having positive sensations without any mystical experiences. His Ishihara Test score increased to 15 after twelve hours.
He repeated the test once every twenty-four hours, scoring 18 above the required average vision cut-off. The score peaked at 19 on day eight. Moreover, the reading remained elevated to 18 after four months.
Other than self-administration conflicts and continuation of taking psychedelic drugs, the authors administered the Ishihara test for a year and got a score of 16. Moreover, although it is below the threshold, it is higher than what is self-reported.
A single use of psilocybin may produce partial improvements in CVD extending beyond the period of acute effect, despite this condition typically resulting from a genetic defect.
Notably, the subject never attained a perfect score on the test
They added,
This is consistent with his CVD likely being genetic and the expectation that psilocybin would not produce a DNA change to fully correct these deficits.
