Hallucinogen creates lasting personality change

Scientists have discovered that a single dose of hallucinogen may create a long-lasting change to personality.

The study, funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, sought to identify the consequences of hallucinogens.

It found that a single high dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in 'magic mushrooms', brought about a measurable change in the personalities of nearly 60 per cent of the 51 participants.

The change which occurred in personalities was in the attribute of openness, which includes traits related to imagination, aesthetics, feelings, abstract ideas and general broad-mindedness.

Openness increased over the year-long study in 60 per cent of the participants, suggesting long-lasting and potentially permanent change, despite openness normally decreasing with age.

"There may be applications for this we can't even imagine at this point," said study leader Roland R Griffiths, a professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

"It certainly deserves to be systematically studied."

However, he warned that feelings of strong fear and anxiety increased as well, something which could be harmful outside a clinical setting.