Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
September 9, 2026
Alexandre Seillier, Ghinwa Ibrahim El Dannan, Lenka Seillier
Psilocybin, a tryptamine alkaloid found naturally in numerous Psilocybe mushroom species, is currently being investigated for its therapeutic potential in treating several neurobehavioral and psychiatric diseases. Our previous data showed that the 5-HT2B receptor (5-HT2BR) immobility and increases in climbing behavior in the forced swim test (FST), revealing that psilocybin's predictive...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
June 23, 2026
Lenka Seillier, Alexandre Seillier, Morgan A. Zvolska et al.
BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder is one of the most debilitating psychiatric disorders worldwide. First-line treatments such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have significant limitations, including delayed onset of therapeutic effects and treatment resistance in about 30% of patients. Increasing evidence suggests that acute administration of serotonergic psychedelics, such as...
Psychopharmacology
April 23, 2026
Stefani Kalli, Alina Davletova, Lenka Seillier et al.
RATIONALE: Social withdrawal in the sub-chronic phencyclidine (PCP) rat model—a behavioral correlate of schizophrenia’s negative symptoms—is well characterized, yet the psychological mechanisms underlying this deficit remain unclear. OBJECTIVES: Despite the complexity of social behavior, assessments often rely on a single metric (e.g., total interaction time) that has limited explanatory power,...
European Journal of Neuroscience
February 1, 2026
Aditya R. Kumar, Lenka Seillier, Martin Kuchař et al.
Social withdrawal is a core negative symptom of schizophrenia and remains poorly understood at the molecular level. Dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system has been implicated in social behavior, yet its downstream signaling mechanisms are not fully characterized. In this context, this study examined the effects of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor, URB597, on CREB expression...
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
April 2, 2025
Lenka Seillier, Barbora Čechová, Alexandre Seillier et al.
3 citations
Psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, shows promise as a novel intervention with a single administration inducing rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects. However, there are limited studies on the optimal dosing required for the beneficial effects of psilocybin given its side effects. To address this gap, we investigated in Wistar rats whether a single...
PLoS One
2020
Alexandre Seillier, Alex A Martinez, Andrea Giuffrida
Social withdrawal in the sub-chronic phencyclidine (PCP) rat model, a behavioral correlate of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, results from deficits in brain endocannabinoid transmission. As cannabis intake has been shown to affect negatively the course and expression of psychosis, we tested whether the beneficial effects of endocannabinoid-mediated CB1 activation on social withdrawal in...
Behavioural Pharmacology
October 1, 2017
Alexandre Seillier, Andrea Giuffrida
Social withdrawal should not be considered a direct measure of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia as it may result not only from asociality (primary negative symptom) but also from other altered processes such as anxiety. To understand the contribution of these two factors to social deficit, we investigated whether the social withdrawal observed in the subchronic phencyclidine (PCP) rat...