Classification of psychedelics and psychoactive drugs based on brain-wide imaging of cellular c-Fos expression
Nature Communications February 12, 2025 Farid Aboharb, Pasha A. Davoudian, Ling-Xiao Shao et al. 19 citations
A machine-learning pipeline using light sheet fluorescence microscopy to measure immediate early gene expression in mouse brain tissues classified psychoactive drugs with 67% accuracy across eight conditions, significantly above the 12.5% chance level. Psilocybin was discriminated from 5-MeO-DMT, ketamine, MDMA, or acute fluoxetine with over 95% accuracy. Shapley additive explanation identified brain regions driving predictions, suggesting a novel approach for characterizing and validating psychoactive drugs with psychedelic properties.