Exposure to ayahuasca during childhood increased risk assessment behavior, indicating anxiety, and during adolescence decreased time spent in the platform quadrant during a memory test, indicating spatial memory impairment, in C57BL/6 mice. The beverage did not affect locomotion or open arm exploration in the elevated plus maze, nor did it alter acquisition of spatial reference memory in the Morris water maze. These behavioral changes were not long-lasting, as they were absent in groups exposed from childhood to adulthood or adolescence to adulthood.
Chronic exposure to ayahuasca over 12 months did not affect spatial reference memory, habituation, or anxiety in aging male mice. Twenty-eight 6-month-old male C57BL/6 mice received ayahuasca or water twice weekly for a year and were tested in the Morris water maze, open field, and elevated plus maze. Aging alone impaired memory retrieval (but not acquisition) and reduced locomotor activity, while anxiety remained unchanged. Ayahuasca treatment did not alter any of these age-related changes, suggesting that long-term ayahuasca use does not worsen or improve memory in mice.