Dissociating the Hallucinogenic and Neuroplastic Effects of Psilocybin.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology June 18, 2026 Jacob J. Baker, Emily Kogan, Shaorong Ma et al.
Psilocybin promotes the formation and maturation of synapses while accelerating the elimination of pre-existing synapses. Signaling through serotonin 2A receptors in cortical layer 5 pyramidal neurons is necessary and sufficient for this synaptic remodeling but is not required for the head-twitch response, a rodent proxy for hallucination.