The Effect of Psilocin on Memory Acquisition, Retrieval, and Consolidation in the Rat
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience May 16, 2014 Lukáš Rambousek, Tomáš Páleníček, Karel Valeš et al. 55 citations
Psilocin, the main metabolite of psilocybin and an agonist at 5-HT2A receptors, dose-dependently impaired spatial learning and memory retrieval in rats but did not affect memory consolidation. In the Carousel maze, both 1 and 4 mg/kg doses significantly impaired acquisition, with the higher dose blocking learning even in a subsequent saline session. In the Morris water maze, only the 4 mg/kg dose disrupted reinforced retrieval; the lower dose had no effect. Neither dose impaired memory consolidation when injected post-training. These findings suggest that 5-HT2A receptor activation disrupts certain cognitive processes relevant to schizophrenia models, though the validity of such animal models remains questioned due to the complexity of human cognition.