Psilocin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, promotes the formation of new synapses in rat brain cells, an effect comparable to ketamine and lithium. In laboratory experiments on rat cortical cultures, psilocin increased the number of synaptic puncta and boosted expression of the immediate early gene Arc after acute treatment. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) did not produce significant synaptogenic effects. Fluoxetine, a common antidepressant, had no effect on synapse formation but upregulated other immediate early genes. These findings add evidence that psilocin may be a promising therapeutic agent for psychiatric conditions.
Psychedelics can produce rapid and lasting antidepressant effects, likely through neuroplasticity, though the precise molecular mechanisms are not yet understood.
Chronic microdosing of psilocin (0.05 or 0.075 mg/kg) in adult male Wistar rats over five weeks did not alter locomotor activity, depressive-like behavior, sociability, or novelty seeking, and did not increase cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. A small anxiogenic effect was detected in the Elevated Plus Maze. The findings suggest that, under this dosing schedule, psilocin microdosing produces limited behavioral effects and does not enhance hippocampal progenitor proliferation.