Translational Psychiatry
February 23, 2022
Trevor Sharp, Christopher W. Thomas, Cristina Blanco‐duque et al.
40 citations
Psilocin, a serotonergic psychedelic, alters sleep architecture and cortical activity in mice. Acute administration delays REM sleep onset, reduces NREM sleep maintenance for about three hours, and enhances a 4 Hz EEG oscillation. No long-term changes in sleep-wake quantity occur. Psilocin does not affect the overall homeostatic sleep rebound after sleep deprivation, but it slows the recovery of slow-wave activity in the medial prefrontal and surrounding cortex. These findings suggest psilocin influences both global vigilance state control and local sleep homeostasis, which may relate to its antidepressant effects.
Molecular Psychiatry
February 6, 2024
Merima Šabanović, Alberto Lazari, Marta Blanco-Pozo et al.
17 citations
A single dose of the psychedelic compound (±)-DOI increased brain volume in sensory and association areas of young adult mice and improved cognitive flexibility one week later. Treated mice adapted faster to a reversal in a probabilistic learning task and began learning from reward omissions, a strategy mice normally do not use. The effects depended on the timing between drug administration and the reversal, as well as on intervening experiences. These findings suggest that psychedelics may aid treatment of conditions involving rigid thinking, such as depression or addiction, by enhancing neuroplasticity and enabling new learning strategies.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
December 11, 2022
Benjamin J. B. Bréant, José Prius-Mengual, David M. Bannerman et al.
5 citations
preprint
Psychedelics like 5-MeO-DMT induce a dissociated state of arousal that combines features of waking and sleep. In freely moving adult male mice, the drug produced sleep-like slow waves in the cortex alongside marked pupil dilation, even while animals were awake and moving. REM sleep was strongly suppressed, similar to the effect of conventional antidepressants. This mixed brain state may explain psychedelic effects such as dream-like hallucinations and reopening of the critical period for plasticity.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
February 16, 2021
Christopher W. Thomas, Cristina Blanco-Duque, Benjamin Bréant et al.
4 citations
preprint
A single dose of psilocin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, alters sleep architecture in mice. Psilocin delayed the onset of REM sleep and reduced NREM sleep maintenance for about three hours after injection, without causing long-term changes in sleep quantity. The acute brain response featured enhanced oscillations around 4 Hz. When mice were sleep-deprived, psilocin did not change the overall amount of sleep rebound, but it slowed the recovery of slow wave activity in the medial prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that psilocin affects both global vigilance and local sleep homeostasis, which may relate to its potential antidepressant effects.