Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit, Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim, Universität Heidelberg, Mannheim, Deutschland.
2 papers in the library · 25 citations · publishing 2023-2025
Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound, may help treat alcohol use disorder (AUD), but its brain effects in AUD are not well understood. In a placebo-controlled crossover study with healthy rats and a rat model of alcohol relapse, psilocybin broadly decreased functional connectivity across the brain while increasing connectivity between serotonin-related core regions and cortical areas. It also reduced connectivity within the default mode network (DMN), mirroring human findings. However, in rats with a history of alcohol relapse, this DMN hypoconnectivity was blunted, and the blunting correlated with relapse intensity. The results suggest that a standard psilocybin dose may be insufficient for severe AUD, a consideration for future clinical trials.
Classical and novel antidepressants may share a common mechanism: promoting long-term neuroplasticity and improving negative bias in emotional processing. Extrapharmacological factors—body, environment, and social interaction—appear necessary for these biological changes to produce an antidepressant effect. Rather than dismissing such factors as placebo, the authors argue they should be tested as essential components of treatment and integrated into clinical practice.