6 results for "gene silencing"
Neuronal Population Effects of Ketamine on Human Brain Organoids
OpenAlex – March 10, 2026
Summary
Ketamine significantly alters human brain organoid dynamics, silencing neuronal networks while maintaining firing rates. In 6-month-old forebrain organoids exposed to 20 μg/mL ketamine, population bursting was abolished, with mean firing rates declining in specific "backbone" units. Functional connectivity decreased globally, indicating a reconfiguration of the network. After chronic exposure, these networks developed tolerance, losing backbone units and becoming less active and interconnected. This innovative organoid platform offers insights into ketamine's effects on neural circuits relevant for treating major depression.
Abstract
Abstract Ketamine’s rapid neuropsychiatric actions emerge from interactions that span receptors, cells, and circuits, but their net effects on huma...
Activity-Dependent Neural Rewiring: Mechanisms of Psilocybin-Induced Cortical Network Reorganization
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) – February 06, 2026
Summary
Psilocybin has shown significant promise in treating mental health disorders by promoting structural neural plasticity. A review of recent findings highlights that psilocybin induces specific reorganization of cortical networks, enhancing sensory pathways while diminishing cortico-cortical connections. Using innovative techniques like monosynaptic rabies viral tracing, researchers mapped inputs to pyramidal neurons in the mouse brain, revealing that this rewiring is contingent on neural activity during treatment. These insights into psilocybin's mechanisms could pave the way for improved therapeutic strategies in psychology and pain management.
Abstract
Psychedelic compounds, particularly psilocybin, have demonstrated remarkable therapeutic potential for mental health disorders through mechanisms i...
Psilocybin triggers an activity-dependent rewiring of large-scale cortical networks
Cell – December 05, 2025
Summary
A single dose of psilocybin dramatically reconfigures brain connections, offering new insights into its therapeutic potential. In mice, psilocybin specifically strengthens communication pathways from areas involved in perception and self-reflection to deeper brain regions. Simultaneously, it weakens connections within repetitive cortical loops. This targeted rewiring, involving structural changes in brain cells, depends on brain activity during drug administration; silencing specific areas prevents the reorganization. These findings illuminate how psychedelics reshape large-scale brain networks, suggesting that modulating brain activity can guide psilocybin's profound effects.
Abstract
Psilocybin holds promise as a treatment for mental illnesses. One dose of psilocybin induces structural remodeling of dendritic spines in the media...
Oxidative Rearrangements of the Alkaloid Intermediate Geissoschizine.
Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) – June 10, 2025
Summary
Plant enzymes perform an elegant chemical dance to create life-saving medicines. Three specialized P450s in medicinal plants transform geissoschizine, a natural product, into four distinct medicinal compounds through precise biosynthesis. This discovery reveals how plants efficiently generate diverse therapeutic molecules from a single starting material.
Abstract
Plants can generate structural diversity by enzymatic rearrangement of a central intermediate. 19E-geissoschizine is one such chemically versatile ...
In vivo silencing of the thalamic CaV3.1 voltage-gated calcium channels demonstrates their region-specific role in anesthetic mediated hypnosis.
Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) – January 01, 2025
Summary
Specific calcium ion channels in the brain's thalamus region play a crucial role in how we lose consciousness during anesthesia. When researchers blocked these channels in certain parts of the thalamus, patients required less isoflurane to achieve hypnosis, revealing how different brain areas respond uniquely to anesthetic drugs. This finding advances our understanding of consciousness.
Abstract
Although substantial progress has been made in the last three decades towards our understanding of how general anesthetics (GAs) act at the molecul...
Psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine modulate innate and adaptive inflammatory responses through the sigma-1 receptor of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells.
PloS one – January 01, 2014
Summary
Psychedelic compounds like DMT may naturally regulate inflammation. Researchers investigated how N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and 5-methoxy-DMT interact with specific immune cells. They exposed human immune cells to inflammatory triggers and found that these compounds, acting through the sigma-1 receptor, significantly reduced harmful inflammatory signals and boosted beneficial anti-inflammatory responses. This suggests a powerful new role for these molecules in controlling immune balance, offering promising avenues for treating autoimmune and chronic inflammatory conditions.
Abstract
The orphan receptor sigma-1 (sigmar-1) is a transmembrane chaperone protein expressed in both the central nervous system and in immune cells. It ha...