Lysergic Acid Diethylamide Alters the Effects of Brain Stimulation in Rodents.
Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.) March 1, 2023 Lucas Dwiel, Angela Henricks, Elise Bragg et al. 4 citations
Psychedelic drugs like LSD acutely reduce low-frequency electrical activity across the brain in rats, but these changes return to baseline after 24 hours. However, brain stimulation applied 24 hours after LSD—a period of heightened neuroplasticity—produces larger and distinct shifts in brain activity compared with stimulation alone. This suggests that even after the acute effects of LSD have faded, latent effects remain that can interact with brain stimulation to alter brain states. These proof-of-concept findings indicate that psychedelic drugs could work in combination with brain stimulation to achieve enhanced effects on brain activity, with future studies needed to assess impacts on behavior.