ACS Chemical Neuroscience
July 9, 2026
José Alexandre Salerno, Elizabeth R. Dominguez, Karina Karmirian et al.
The serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) produces rapid antidepressant effects in preclinical and early clinical studies. Therapeutic benefits have been linked to sustained neural plasticity, including adult neurogenesis in rodents. Whether brief DMT exposure engages proliferative responses in human neural stem cells (NSCs) remains unresolved. Using human iPSC-derived NSCs, we...
Neuroscience Letters
August 10, 2024
Isis M. Ornelas, Beatriz de S. Carrilho, Matheus Antonio V. de C. Ventura et al.
3 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a synthetic psychedelic compound with potential therapeutic value for psychiatric disorders. This study aims to establish Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo model for examining LSD's effects on locomotor behavior. Our results demonstrate that LSD is absorbed by C. elegans and that the acute treatment reduces animal speed, similar to the role of endogenous...
Experimental Neurology
June 1, 2022
Isis M. Ornelas, F. A. Cini, Isabel Wießner et al.
37 citations
The therapeutic use of classical psychedelic substances such as d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) surged in recent years. Studies in rodents suggest that these effects are produced by increased neural plasticity, including stimulation of the mTOR pathway, a key regulator of metabolism, plasticity, and aging. Could psychedelic-induced neural plasticity be harnessed to enhance cognition? Here we...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
June 17, 2021
Karina Karmirian, Livia Goto-Silva, Juliana Nascimento et al.
1 citation
preprint
Abstract Harmine is a β-carboline found in Banisteriopsis caapi , a constituent of ayahuasca brew. Ayahuasca is consumed as a beverage in native Americans’ sacred rituals and in religious ceremonies in Brazil. Throughout the years, the beneficial effects of ayahuasca to improve mental health and life quality have been reported, which propelled the investigation of its therapeutic potential to...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
December 6, 2019
Felipe Augusto Cini da Silva, Isis M. Ornelas, Encarni Marcos et al.
9 citations
preprint
Abstract Psychedelic agonists of serotonin receptors induce neural plasticity and synaptogenesis, but their potential to enhance learning remains uncharted. Here we show that a single dose of d-LSD, a potent serotonergic agonist, increased novel object preference in young and adult rats several days after treatment. d-LSD alone did not increase preference in old animals, but could rescue it to...