Epilepsy, a chronic neurological disorder affecting around 65 million people globally, is characterized by recurrent, unprovoked epileptic seizures. Psilocin, the active metabolite of psilocybin, a well-known psychedelic compound, has recently gained attention for its potential antidepressant and anxiolytic properties. This study aims to investigate the anti...
Background/Objectives: Non-response to initial treatment options for major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common clinical challenge with profound deleterious impacts for affected patients. Few treatments have received regulatory approval for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Methods: A systematic search of United States and European Union clinical trials...
Despite enormous interest in psychedelics for psychiatric interventions, potential underlying biological mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we confirm that a single dose of psilocybin increases synaptic transmission in mouse medial prefrontal cortex. Using scRNA-sequencing, we identify cell-type specific mechanisms of sustained neuroplastic effects. We show th...
The investigators wish to investigate neurobiological effects of serotonin 2A receptor modulation in healthy volunteers, contrasting effects of an agonist (psilocybin) and an antagonist (ketanserin). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) will be used as neuroimaging tools. This project applies an experimental medicine strate...
Abstract Psychedelic drugs have profound effects on perception, cognition and mood. How psychedelics affect neural signaling to produce these effects remains poorly understood. We investigated the effect of the classic psychedelic psilocybin on neural activity patterns and spatial encoding in the retrosplenial cortex of head-fixed mice navigating on a treadm...
Psilocin, the active metabolite of psilocybin, is a psychedelic and agonist at the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) that has shown positive therapeutic effects for brain disorders such as depression. To elucidate the brain effects of psilocybin, we directly compared the acute effects of 5-HT2AR agonist (psilocybin) and antagonist (ketanserin) on cerebral bloo...
In the contemporary landscape of psychiatric medicine, critical advancements have been noted in the utilization of psychoactive substances such as hallucinogens, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and ketamine for the treatment of severe mental health disorders. This review provides a detailed evaluation of these substances, focusing on their mechanis...
Introduction Since the last edition of the Black Book, several innovative agents have been approved or are poised to be approved in the coming year. These include novel antidepressants, the first muscarine agonist for the treatment of schizophrenia, the first psychedelic which may be approved for the treatment of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and th...
Several fungi belonging to the genus Psilocybe, also called “magic mushrooms”, contain the hallucinogenic drugs psilocybin and psilocin. They are chemically related to serotonin (5-HT). In addition to being abused as drugs, they are now also being discussed or used as a treatment option for depression. Here, we hypothesized that psilocybin and psilocin may a...
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...
The use of psilocybin to treat alcohol use disorder is very promising, but its mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. We combined behavioural, pharmacological and gene expression analyses to decipher the mechanisms of action of psilocybin, for the first time, when injected into the brain. Male Long Evans rats underwent chronic operant ethanol self-ad...
Psychedelic drugs have profound effects on perception, cognition, and mood. How psychedelics affect neural signaling to produce these effects remains poorly understood. We investigated the effect of the classic psychedelic psilocybin on neural activity patterns and spatial encoding in the retrosplenial cortex of head-fixed mice navigating on a treadmill. The...
Background: Immediate early genes (IEGs) are rapidly activated and initiate diverse cellular processes including neuroplasticity. We report the effect of psilocybin (PSIL), PSIL-containing psychedelic mushroom extract (PME) and 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) on expression of the IEGs, cfos, egr1, and egr2 in mouse somatosensory cortex (SSC). Methods: In our ini...
Since its emergence in the 1960s, the serotonergic theory of depression bore fruit in the discovery of a plethora of antidepressant drugs affecting the lives of millions of patients. While crucial in the history of drug development, recent studies undermine the effectiveness of currently used antidepressant drugs in comparison to placebo, emphasizing the lon...
Serotonergic psychedelics such as psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide, and DOI exert a hallucinatory effect through serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT2A) activation. Recent studies have revealed that serotonergic psychedelics have therapeutic potential for neuropsychiatric disorders, including major depressive and anxiety-related disorders. However, the invo...
Psychedelics hold therapeutic promise for mood disorders due to rapid, sustained results. Human neuroimaging studies have reported dramatic serotonin-2A receptor-(5-HT2AR)-dependent changes in functional brain reorganization that presumably reflect neuromodulation. However, the potent vasoactive effects of serotonin have been overlooked. We found psilocybin-...
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide While correlations between drug-induced cortisol elevation, self-reported anxiety, and treatment outcomes have been reported for human studies during psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, the mechanistic relationship between psychedelic-associated alterations in plasma glucocorticoid responses and the time cour...
Serotonergic psychedelics such as psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide, and DOI exert a hallucinatory effect through serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT2A) activation. Recent studies have revealed that serotonergic psychedelics have therapeutic potential for neuropsychiatric disorders, including major depressive and anxiety-related disorders. However, the invo...
