AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology
February 15, 2024
Paloma C Frautschi, Ajay P Singh, Nicholas A Stowe et al.
5 citations
The neurobiological mechanisms behind psychiatric disorders like treatment-resistant major depression, PTSD, and substance use disorders are not well understood. Psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin, LSD, and DMT show promise as therapies, possibly by inducing neuroplasticity and altering brain functional networks, but how these effects occur remains unclear. This review synthesizes current knowledge from fMRI and PET studies on functional brain changes after these psychedelics in humans, aiming to improve diagnostics and treatment for neuropsychiatric illness.
AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology
June 3, 2025
Paloma C Frautschi, Ajay P Singh, Nicholas A Stowe et al.
2 citations
Psilocybin treatment in male mice led to structural connectivity differences in the frontal association cortex after 72 hours and microstructural changes in the primary visual cortex after 24 hours, as well as in the striatum and hippocampus after 72 hours, including increased mean diffusivity and decreased neurite density. These findings suggest that diffusion microstructure imaging can detect and characterize brain changes induced by psilocybin, offering a potential method to monitor treatment response and identify clinical endpoints for patients with major depressive disorder.
AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology
April 24, 2026
Joga Chaganti, Krista J Siefried, Veda S Vyakaranam et al.
In individuals with methamphetamine use disorder, psilocybin administration alongside psychotherapy led to measurable reorganization of large-scale brain networks and local neural synchrony. After the intervention, connectivity within and between attentional, default mode, and salience networks shifted significantly, and local synchrony increased in frontal and sensorimotor regions. Greater reductions in methamphetamine use correlated with recovery of frontostriatal and attentional connectivity, while reduced psychological distress was linked to strengthened integration of attentional and prefrontal-striatal circuits. These findings suggest psilocybin may promote network-level plasticity in stimulant addiction and support the potential of resting-state fMRI metrics as biomarkers of such change.