The influence of psilocybin on subconscious and conscious emotional learning
iScience – May 19, 2024
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
A compelling finding in Psychedelics and Drug Studies reveals that a 20 mg dose of psilocybin, a compound rooted in Chemical synthesis and alkaloids, significantly improved learning rates over placebo. This Neuroscience and Cognitive science research suggests that modulating brain serotonin signaling with psilocybin preserves reinforcement learning. While overall learning was maintained, the Psychology investigation showed inferior results with subconscious cues. Conversely, conscious neutral cues sometimes led to better outcomes. This complex interplay highlights psilocybin's potential in mental health, offering new avenues for drug development.
Abstract
Serotonergic psychedelics hold promise as a treatment modality for various psychiatric disorders and are currently applied in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. We investigated the learning effects of the serotonin receptor agonist psilocybin in a probabilistic cue-reward task with emotional cues in the form of neutral or fearful faces, presented either consciously or subconsciously. This study represents the first investigation into reinforcement learning with psilocybin. Across different dosages, psilocybin preserved learning effects and was statistically noninferior compared to placebo, while suggesting a higher exploratory behavior. Notably, the 20 mg group exhibited significantly better learning rates against the placebo group. Psilocybin induced inferior results with subconscious cues compared to placebo, and better results with conscious neutral cues in some conditions. These findings suggest that modulating serotonin signaling in the brain with psilocybin sufficiently preservers reinforcement learning.