Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), which are characterized by neural circuit and behavioral dysfunction due to impaired brain development. At the neural and behavioral levels, PAE is associated with disrupted cortical synaptic transmission and lifelong impairments in learning and cognitive control. Despite the prevalence of FASDs...
Classical psychedelic drugs show promise as a treatment for major depressive disorder and related psychiatric disorders. This therapeutic efficacy stems from long-lasting psychedelic-induced neuroplasticity onto prefrontal cortical neurons and is thought to require the postsynaptic expression of serotonin 2A receptors (5-HT_2AR). However, other cortical regions such as the granular...
Psychedelic compounds have demonstrated remarkable therapeutic potential for treating neuropsychiatric disorders by promoting sustained neuroplasticity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Cognitive flexibility-the ability to adapt previously learned rules to novel situations-represents a critical PFC function that is frequently impaired in depression, PTSD, and neurodegenerative conditions. In this...
ABSTRACT Classical psychedelic drugs are thought to increase excitability of pyramidal cells in prefrontal cortex via activation of serotonin 2 A receptors (5-HT2 A Rs). Here, we instead find that multiple classes of psychedelics dose-dependently suppress intrinsic excitability of pyramidal neurons, and that extracellular delivery of psychedelics decreases excitability significantly more than...