Effects of psychedelic, DOI, on nucleus accumbens dopamine signaling to predictable rewards and cues in rats
Neuropsychopharmacology July 6, 2024 David Martin, Angel M. Delgado, Donna J. Calu 3 citations
A psychedelic 5-HT2A/2C agonist, DOI, increases dopamine signals in the nucleus accumbens core of rats during a learned reward task. The drug boosts dopamine responses to rewards and the cues that directly precede them, but not to earlier, distal cues. This effect occurs independently of changes in reward value, suggesting DOI amplifies prediction error signaling—a mechanism that may help disrupt entrenched associations or facilitate new learning. The findings point toward psychedelic strategies that engage error-driven learning for therapeutic benefit.