BackgroundPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder are often comorbid in humans. Psilocybin reportedly has beneficial therapeutic effects on depression, possibly by promoting neuroplasticity. PTSD is associated with the dysregulation of neuroplasticity in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). We hypothesized that psil...
Memory encoding depends on the joint convergence of substrate readiness, internal drive, environmental input, and a permissive temporal-physiological state. The same logic recurs across vertebrate learning systems: hippocampal-dependent spatial and schema-modulated memory (the Navigia substrate in the Systema Behavorum taxonomy), filial imprinting in the chi...
Abstract Background and Aims Psilocybin is a psychedelic compound that may hold promise for a wide range of human health conditions, yet the identification of therapeutic processes and mechanisms of action remains exploratory. We conducted a scoping review of pre-clinical behavioural investigations of psilocybin in non-human animals to identify behavioural e...
BACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been a resurgence of scientific interest in psychedelics, including psilocybin, for their potential in treating neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the reward-related effects of psilocybin and its impact on behavior remain underexplored. AIMS: We aimed to evaluate the potential rewarding effects of high doses of psiloc...
Serotonergic psychedelics have shown promise in clinical trials for treating an array of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite these findings, our understanding of how these drugs mechanistically exert their therapeutic effects remains incomplete. While researchers have regularly employed rodent p...
Psychedelics (hallucinogenic 5-HT2A agonists such as psilocybin) are gaining recognition for their potential to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety-related psychopathology. Despite early promising results, the mechanisms by which psychedelic therapy alleviates anxiety are not well understood. Here, we review neural and cognitive mechanisms underly...
Psychedelics (hallucinogenic 5-HT2A agonists such as psilocybin) are gaining recognition for their potential to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety-related psychopathology. Despite early promising results, the mechanisms by which psychedelic therapy alleviates anxiety are not well understood. Here, we review neural and cognitive mechanisms underly...
ABSTRACT A variety of classic psychedelics and MDMA have been shown to enhance fear extinction in rodent models. This has translational significance because a standard treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is prolonged exposure therapy. However, few studies have investigated psilocybin’s potential effect in fear learning paradigms. More specific...
Psilocybe cubensis is a species of psilocybin mushroom (magic mushroom) of moderate potency whose principal active compounds are psilocybin and psilocin. Recent studies have shown the significant procognitive and mood-enhancer effects of Psilocybe cubensis. However, evidence is so limited, especially in preclinical studies. We aimed to investigate the effect...
Background and Aims Psilocybin is a psychedelic drug that may hold promise for a wide range of human health conditions, yet the identification of therapeutic processes and mechanisms of action remains exploratory. We conducted a scoping review on pre-clinical behavioural investigations of psilocybin in non-human animals to help determine the behavioural effe...
BACKGROUND: The present study explored the acceptability of psilocybin-assisted group therapy from the perspective of patients with cancer and depression who participated in a clinical trial assessing the safety and efficacy of this novel intervention. METHODS: Guided by the conceptual framework of acceptability, the authors conducted semi-structured intervi...
There is a renewed interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, including psilocybin, in treating mental health disorders. However, there are no data on the efficacy of psilocybin in alleviating chronic pain. In this study, we investigated the effect of psilocybin on mechanical hypersensitivity and thermal hyperalgesia in a rat model of formalin-in...
BACKGROUND: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are highly comorbid. Psilocybin exerts substantial therapeutic effects on depression by promoting neuroplasticity. Fear extinction is a key process in the mechanism of first-line exposure-based therapies for PTSD. We hypothesized that psilocybin would facilitate fear extinction by promoting hipp...
BackgroundThough drugs binding to serotonergic 5-HT2A receptors have long been claimed to influence human anxiety, it remains unclear if this receptor subtype is best described as anxiety promoting or anxiety dampening. Whereas conditioned fear expressed as freezing in rats is modified by application of 5-HT2A-acting drugs locally into different brain region...
The efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental disorders has been attributed to the lasting change from experiential avoidance to acceptance that these treatments appear to facilitate. This article presents a conceptual model that specifies potential psychological mechanisms underlying such change, and that shows substantial parallels between psyc...
Drugs that modulate serotonin (5-HT) synaptic concentrations impact neurogenesis and hippocampal (HPC)-dependent learning. The primary objective is to determine the extent to which psilocybin (PSOP) modulates neurogenesis and thereby affects acquisition and extinction of HPC-dependent trace fear conditioning. PSOP, the 5-HT2A agonist 25I-NBMeO and the 5-HT2A...
RationaleThe widely available hallucinogen salvinorin A is a unique example of a plant-derived compound selective for kappa-opioid receptors and may produce effects distinct from those of other compounds with classic hallucinogenic or dissociative properties which are also abused in humans.ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to characterize the salvinor...
