science
Woman with Alzheimer's Regains Speech and Mobility After Psilocybin Doses
@NewScientist reported that an 83-year-old woman with severe Alzheimer's began initiating conversations and regained continence after two doses of psilocybin. The case report documented improvements lasting weeks but drew criticism over ethics and methodology. Experts called for controlled trials to explore the findings.
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An 83-year-old woman diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 10 years ago began initiating conversations and regained urinary continence after receiving oral doses of the Enigma strain of Psilocybe cubensis, @NewScientist reported. The woman had communicated primarily in monosyllables for years and required assistance to move. With her son’s consent, she received a 5-gram dose.
Approximately 19 hours later she started a four-hour conversation that included memories and reflections. In the following weeks she dressed herself independently, entered conversations spontaneously, and showed more animated facial expressions, prolonged eye contact, responsive smiles, and greater agility, according to Marcus Lago of the Ankh Cross Association in São Paulo, Brazil.
About one month later she received a second 3-gram dose.
She then described surfing with her son on a peaceful island, selected coordinated clothing on her own, went to the television room expecting breakfast, recognized a rented car, noticed when someone was absent, and remained continent during periods when incontinence had been routine.
2026.1813281. Lago stated that the woman’s Alzheimer’s has not been reversed but that psychedelics may access residual functional capacity.
Albert Garcia-Romeu at Johns Hopkins University raised concerns about the high initial dose, the lack of longer-term follow-up, the reliance on symptom assessment rather than biomarkers, and the limits of a single case report. David Nutt at Imperial College London and Rudolph Tanzi at Harvard University said the observations align with known effects of psilocybin on brain plasticity and warrant further controlled research.
