Sex-Specific Effects of Psychedelic Drug Exposure on Central Amygdala Reactivity and Behavioral Responding
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) April 29, 2022 Devin P. Effinger, Sema G. Quadir, M. C. Ramage et al. 2 citations preprint
A single dose of psilocin, the active metabolite of psilocybin, produces sex-specific, time-dependent, and lasting changes in central amygdala (CeA) activity and reactivity to an aversive air-puff stimulus in mice. Psilocin acutely increased CeA activity in both sexes and increased stimulus-specific CeA reactivity in females but not males. In males, psilocin caused time-dependent decreases in reactivity from 2 to 28 days after administration, while females showed no such decrease. Behavioral threat responses also changed in a sex-dependent manner, with no effects on exploratory behavior or locomotion. These findings suggest enduring, sex-specific alterations in CeA function underlie psilocin's therapeutic effects in affective disorders.