The serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dipropyltryptamine alters information-processing dynamics in cortical neural circuits
arXiv Preprint Archive October 31, 2023 Thomas F. Varley, Daniel Havert, Leandro Fosque et al.
The psychedelic DPT reversibly alters how information is processed in rat cortical tissue. Spontaneous neural firing became more random (higher entropy), and individual neurons stored information for shorter periods. Neural activity became less reversible, pushing the system away from equilibrium. Circuit structure shifted: overall information flow into each neuron decreased, but weak connections increased, blending integration and disintegration. Higher-order statistical synergy among groups of three neurons also dropped. These meso-scale effects offer a more detailed view of psychedelic action than whole-brain imaging provides.