Short- and long-term reconfiguration of rat prefrontal cortical networks following single doses of psilocybin
OpenAlex – December 13, 2024
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Psilocybin, a hallucinogen, acutely unmasks 100Hz high-frequency oscillations within the infralimbic cortex, a key Prefrontal cortex region. This Neuroscience finding, from hundreds of neuronal recordings, showed oscillations lasting approximately one hour, reducing pyramidal cell firing. Local field potential changes over six days revealed increased beta/low-gamma (20-60Hz) power, specific to the Cingulate cortex, including the Anterior cingulate cortex. This work in Psychedelics and Drug Studies advances Psychology's understanding of plasticity, offering biomarkers.
Abstract
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 medial prefrontal cortex of freely-behaving adult rats. Psilocybin (0.3mg/kg or 1mg/kg i.p.) unmasked 100Hz high frequency oscillations that were most pronounced within the infralimbic cortex, persisted for approximately 1h post-injection and were accompanied by decreased net pyramidal cell firing rates and reduced signal complexity. These acute effects were more prominent during resting behaviour than during a sustained attention task. LFP 1-, 2- and 6-days post-psilocybin showed gradually-emerging increases in beta and low-gamma (20-60Hz) power, specific to the infralimbic cortex. These findings reveal features of psychedelic action not readily detectable in human brain imaging, implicating infralimbic network oscillations as potential biomarkers of psychedelic-induced network plasticity over multi-day timescales.