You can even win a car, if you believe the smiling happy Amanita . Amanita muscaria often fruits in the same areas and at the same time as the delicious edible mushroom Boletus edulis . Since Amanita muscaria is brightly colored and easily seen from a distance, they are used by many mushroom hunters as an indicator that they should be looking nearby for the more difficult to spot Boletus . Both form mycorrhizal associations with conifers in the same area. Besides the brightly colored and large fruiting bodies, there is substantial interest in this mushroom because it is poisonous and hallucinogenic.
Most fruiting bodies contain two toxins, ibotenic acid and muscimol.
They are hallucinogenic and psychoactive, acting on the nervous system as neuropeptide receptors. GABA normally acts as a neurotransmitter and NMDA acts as glutamate receptor responsible for learning in a part of the brain known as the amygdala. The amygdala is the part of the brain responsible for fear. Studies in rats have shown that the inactivation of this area of the brain through the use of muscimol and ibotenate will inhibit fear learning and the startle reflex. Eating the mushrooms effective turn off the fear emotion.