Psilocybin alters perception and brain dynamics. Contextual computations are ubiquitous in the brain. Here, we investigate the effects of psilocybin using psychophysics, ultra-high field functional MRI, and computational modeling. We find that 1) psilocybin alters contextual perception in the Ebbinghaus illusion, 2) psilocybin alters contextual modulation in...
Psilocybin is a hallucinogen with complex neurobiological and behavioral effects. This is the first study to use MRI to follow functional changes in brain activity in response to different doses of psilocybin in fully awake, drug naive rats. Female and male rats were given IP injections of vehicle or psilocybin in doses of 0.03 mg/kg, 0.3 mg/kg, and 3.0 mg/k...
Psychedelics, historically celebrated for their cultural and spiritual significance, have emerged as potential breakthrough therapeutic agents due to their profound effects on consciousness, emotional processing, mood, and neural plasticity. This review explores the mechanisms underlying psychedelics' effects, focusing on their ability to modulate brain conn...
Psilocybin represents a novel therapeutic approach for individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) who do not respond to conventional antidepressant treatment. Investigating the influence of psilocybin on the pathophysiological processes involved in MDD could enhance our neurobiological understanding of the presumed antidepressant action mechanism. This...
This scoping review examines the emerging evidence for psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAP) in treating trauma-related disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS), with specific implications for intimate partner violence (IPV)-related brain injury and PTSD. Guided by PRISMA-ScR methodology, ...
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...
SUMMARY We quantify cellular- and circuit-resolution neural network dynamics following therapeutically relevant doses of the psychedelic psilocybin. Using chronically implanted Neuropixels probes, we recorded local field potentials (LFP) alongside action potentials from hundreds of neurons spanning infralimbic, prelimbic and cingulate subregions of the media...
BackgroundPeripheral levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are often used as a biomarker for the rapid plasticity-promoting effects of ketamine, psychedelics, and other psychoplastogens in humans. However, studies analyzing peripheral BDNF after psychoplastogen exposure show mixed results. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to test whether the rapi...
"Iracema comes with the pot full of the green liquor. The shaman decrees the dreams to each warrior and distributes the wine of jurema, which carries the brave Tabajara to heaven." José de Alencar, in his poetic novel “Iracema” (1865)1. IntroductionThe "wine of jurema", used in ancient Brazilian shamanic rituals, is rich in N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a na...
ABSTRACT Psychedelics have robust effects on acute brain function and long-term behavior but whether they also cause enduring functional and anatomical brain changes is unknown. In a placebo-controlled, within-subjects, electroencephalography, and magnetic resonance imaging study in 28 healthy, entirely psychedelic-naive participants, anatomical and function...
Artificial intelligence (AI) and psychedelic medicines are among the most high-profile evolving disruptive innovations within mental healthcare in recent years. Although AI and psychedelics may not have historically shared any common ground, there exists the potential for these subjects to combine in generating innovative mental health treatment approaches. ...
Background SAPAP3-knockout (KO) mice develop excessive self-grooming behavior at 4-6 months of age, serving as a model for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Given that anxiety often precedes OCD diagnosis in humans, this study investigated whether juvenile SAPAP3-KO mice exhibit anxiety-like behaviors before developing the self-grooming phenotype, and whe...
. It remains unclear how human brain network changes relate to subjective and lasting effects of psychedelics. Here we tracked individual-specific brain changes with longitudinal precision functional mapping (roughly 18 magnetic resonance imaging visits per participant). Healthy adults were tracked before, during and for 3 weeks after high-dose psilocybin (2...
Fruitful comparison of psychedelic, spiritual, and psychotic experiences requires a degree of phenomenological nuance. Some shared features of these phenomena, such as encounters and communications with supernatural entities, are obfuscated by scientific and clinical terminology. Other supposed distinctions are based on an atemporal view of dynamic experienc...
The resurgence of interest in psychedelics as treatments for psychiatric disorders necessitates a better understanding of potential sex differences in response to these substances. Sex as a biological variable (SABV) has been historically neglected in medical research, posing limits to our understanding of treatment efficacy. Human studies have provided insi...
Ketamine is classified as a dissociative anaesthetic that, in sub-anaesthetic doses, can produce an altered state of consciousness characterised by dissociative symptoms, visual and auditory hallucinations, and perceptual distortions. Given the anaesthetic-like and psychedelic-like nature of this compound, it is expected to have different effects on brain dy...
