Psilocybin reduces alcohol self-administration via selective left nucleus accumbens activation in rats
Brain May 4, 2024 Jérôme Jeanblanc, Romain Bordy, Grégory Fouquet et al. 10 citations
Psilocybin reduces alcohol self-administration in rats by 50% when injected 4 hours before a drinking session, either intraperitoneally (1 mg/kg) or directly into the left nucleus accumbens (0.15 μg), but not the right nucleus accumbens or left ventral tegmental area. The effect is blocked by a 5-HT2A receptor antagonist injected into the left nucleus accumbens. Psilocybin increases dopamine D2 receptor mRNA in the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex of rats that self-administered alcohol, but not saccharin, and increases D1 receptor mRNA only in the prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest psilocybin acts through the 5-HT2A receptor in the left nucleus accumbens, potentially via increased D2 receptor expression, and reveal unexpected hemispheric lateralization of psychedelic effects.