Effect of a single psilocybin treatment on Fos protein expression in male rat brain.
Neuroscience February 16, 2024 Douglas Funk, Joseph Araujo, Malik Slassi et al. 11 citations
Psilocybin increased Fos protein expression dose-dependently in the frontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, central and basolateral amygdala, and locus coeruleus of male rats, with the strongest effect in the central amygdala. Fos was expressed in both neurons and oligodendrocytes. The central amygdala, a region critical for emotional processing and learning, may be a key site where psilocybin initiates brain activation leading to neuroplastic changes underlying its therapeutic effects.