Resetting the Hippocampal Buffer: A Neurocognitive Account of Psychedelic Therapy for Anxiety-Related Psychopathology
May 26, 2024 Hugh McGovern, Nick Wellman, Brendan Hutchinson et al. 2 citations preprint
Psychedelics such as psilocybin show promise for treating anxiety, but how they work is unclear. This review proposes a model where anxiety disorders involve the hippocampus biasing the amygdala and salience network toward anxiety-related information, creating a self-perpetuating cycle. Psychedelics temporarily free cortical networks from this hippocampal constraint, and increased plasticity afterward allows the hippocampus to integrate new information into a less biased contextual frame, reducing anxious thoughts. The model highlights that psychedelics can acutely increase anxiety, and future research should determine optimal treatment approaches informed by cognitive neuroscience.