Perturbing whole-brain models of brain hierarchy: an application for depression following pharmacological treatment
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) January 2, 2025 Marcel Socoró Garrigosa, Yonatan Sanz Perl, Morten L. Kringelbach et al. preprint
Using whole-brain models guided by the Thermodynamics of Mind framework, the authors estimated the brain hierarchy of specific brain states and simulated transitions between states. Applying this to major depressive disorder, they built models of depressed patients before and after psilocybin and escitalopram treatments. Dynamic sensitivity analysis showed that susceptibility to change was on average reduced by escitalopram and increased by psilocybin, and both treatments promoted healthier transitions. These results align with the post-treatment plasticity window opened by serotonergic psychedelics and with the similar clinical efficacy of both drugs observed in clinical trials.