Vigilance state dissociation induced by 5-MeO DMT in mice
Benjamin Bréant, José Prius-Mengual, Alexander Andrews, Anna Hoerder-Suabedissen, Jasmin Patel, David Bannerman, Trevor Sharp, Vladyslav Vyazovskiy
Research Square May 6, 2025 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6377546/v1
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractPsychedelics like 5-MeO-DMT induce a dissociated state of arousal in mice, combining features of waking and sleep. In freely moving adult male mice, chronic neocortical recordings and pupillometry showed that the drug triggered prominent slow oscillations in the cortex and marked pupil dilation while the animals remained awake and moving. REM sleep was initially suppressed but overcompensated in the following 48 hours. This dissociated brain state, mixing waking and sleep characteristics, may underlie psychedelic effects such as dream-like hallucinations and reopening of the critical period for plasticity.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Adult male mice |
| Intervention | 5-MeO-DMT |
| Duration | 48 hours post-injection |
| Keywords | Neuroscience Psychedelics Consciousness Sleep research Brain activity |
| Key finding | Psychedelics induce a dissociated state of arousal in mice, characterized by cortical slow oscillations and pupil dilation in awake, moving animals, with initial REM sleep suppression followed by rebound. |
Abstract
Abstract Psychedelics lead to profound changes in subjective experience and behaviour, which are typically conceptualised in psychological terms rather than corresponding to an altered brain state or a distinct state of arousal. Here, we performed chronic electrophysiological recordings from the neocortex concomitant with pupillometry in freely moving adult male mice following an injection of a short-acting psychedelic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT). We observed an acute induction of a dissociated state of arousal, characterised by prominent slow oscillations in the cortex and marked pupil dilation in behaviourally awake, moving animals. REM sleep was initially markedly suppressed, similar to the effect of conventional antidepressants, but was overcompensated in the subsequent 48 hours. We argue that the occurrence of a dissociated brain state combining features of waking and sleep may fundamentally underpin the known and hypothesised effects of psychedelics — from dream-like hallucinations to reopening of the critical period for plasticity.