Animal Behavior in Psychedelic Research.
Pharmacological reviews October 1, 2022 Anna U Odland, Jesper L Kristensen, Jesper T Andreasen 23 citations
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy shows promise for treating mental health disorders, and research on 5-HT2AR agonist psychedelics has grown rapidly. In humans, these compounds alter consciousness and affect emotional, social, and self-referential information processing. The translational value of animal behavior studies is debated. In rodents, acute psychedelic treatment produces head twitches, disrupts sensorimotor gating, stimulates motor activity, inhibits exploration, and shows anxiolytic-like effects while inhibiting repetitive behavior. Effects on depression-like behaviors, cognitive function, and social interaction are discrepant. Lasting effects are sensitive to experimental protocols. Improving animal studies by assessing lasting effects, publishing negative findings, and relating behaviors to neuroplastic changes will enhance translational value.