The Effects of Daytime Psilocybin Administration on Sleep: Implications for Antidepressant Action
Frontiers in Pharmacology December 3, 2020 Daniela Dudysová, Karolína Janků, Michal Šmotek et al. 37 citations
Psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic with antidepressant potential, altered sleep architecture in healthy volunteers the night after administration. In a randomized, double-blinded trial, 20 healthy adults (10 women, ages 28–53) received psilocybin or placebo. Psilocybin prolonged REM sleep latency and showed a trend toward reduced total REM sleep duration, with no changes in NREM sleep or whole-night EEG power spectra. Contrary to expectations, psilocybin suppressed slow-wave activity in the first sleep cycle, providing no evidence for sleep-related neuroplasticity. The findings suggest that psilocybin's antidepressant properties may involve sleep changes, possibly through different mechanisms than those of classical antidepressants.