bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
October 15, 2026
Musashi Yamakawa, 博之 吉留, Haruki Kawagoe et al.
preprint
The afferent vagus nerve transmits interoceptive signals to the brain but a systematic understanding of how vagal signals affect brain-wide neuronal dynamics remains elusive. Here, comprehensive spatiotemporal analyses across the entire mouse brain revealed that vagus nerve stimulation activated neuronal ensembles within the default mode network (DMN). In contrast, vagal-independent mechanisms...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
October 14, 2026
Greg Cooper, Devon Stoliker, Sebastian Vincent Astl Delgado et al.
preprint
Language helps organise experience into an idiosyncratic, temporally extended sense of self. We therefore used fMRI to investigate whether greater similarity between participants in the activity of language-associated brain regions accompanied psilocybin-induced loss of selfhood. Participants heard music and viewed moving clouds at baseline and after 19 mg psilocybin. At each brain location and...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
October 2, 2026
Madison J Oulton, Gracious D. S. Kasheke, Kelly A. Meaney et al.
preprint
We have examined how ibogaine may enhance synaptic plasticity and neural repair. Extracellular efflux analysis showed that ibogaine (3, 10 or 30 μM) produced a rapid (<5 minutes) and concentration-dependent suppression of mitochondrial function and glycolysis in mouse cortical neurons. Cell-based imaging demonstrated this metabolic inhibition was preceded by an elevation of the mitochondrial...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
October 1, 2026
Adam P.D. Ponzi, Katsunori Miyahara, Keisuke Suzuki
preprint
The neural mechanisms underlying spontaneous perceptual switches during bistable perception, particularly the dynamic interplay between large-scale brain networks, remain incompletely understood. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in six participants and a bistable kinetic depth effect (KDE) stimulus, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of brain activity associated...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 28, 2026
Gabriela Sawicka, Marian Martínez-Marín, Christopher Timmermann et al.
preprint
Psychedelic compounds such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) induce rapid and profound changes in conscious experience, requiring neuroimaging measures that capture how brain dynamics evolve across space and time. Emerging evidence suggests that rotational (vortex-like) dynamics may contribute to the coordination of large-scale neural activity. Here, we introduce two vorticity-based metrics;...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 21, 2026
Judith Kunze, Justus Student, Sarah Tune et al.
preprint
Non-invasive proxies of cortical excitation--inhibition (E:I) balance, are increasingly used to understand human neural dynamics; especially so the aperiodic (1/f) electroencephalographic (EEG) exponent. Ketamine, an NMDA-receptor antagonist, is thought to shift this balance toward excitation. Propofol, a GABAA-receptor agonist, should behave oppositely. Here we show that these pharmacological...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 21, 2026
Ryoichi Watanabe, Jue Wang, Masafumi Oizumi et al.
preprint
Whether subjective colour experience (e.g., experience of 'red') is shared across children and adults remains a foundational question in developmental psychology and consciousness research. To test this, we compared the relational structures of their colour experiences and identified the mapping that best preserved these structures. Using pairwise similarity judgements for 13 basic colours, we...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 18, 2026
Aurora Savino, Carla Liaci, Giorgio R. Merlo et al.
preprint
Background Classic psychedelics are serotonergic agents increasingly recognized for their ability to produce rapid and long-lasting therapeutic effects in several neuropsychiatric conditions, yet the molecular mechanisms that translate acute serotonergic perturbation into long-term brain adaptation remain poorly understood. Psychedelic action is commonly attributed to enhanced neuronal...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 13, 2026
Tae Jun Park, Sang Woong Park, Solah Park et al.
preprint
Abstract MK-801, a phencyclidine (PCP) derivative also known as dizocilpine, is a potent noncompetitive antagonist of the N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAr). The NMDAr plays a critical role in mediating excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system (CNS) and is important in regulating synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. MK-801 is known to induce schizophrenia-like...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 8, 2026
Zefan Zheng, Darinka Trübutschek, Yongchun Cai et al.
preprint
Abstract Consciousness is mostly studied as if it were composed of independent snapshots, aggregating reports over trials and experimental contexts, disregarding any temporal aspect. However, almost nothing is known about how conscious experience spontaneously fluctuates in time. To shed light on the temporal dynamics of conscious awareness, we evaluated the temporal autocorrelation of...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 8, 2026
Tomokazu Tsurugizawa, Aya Takemura
preprint
A single injection of a subanesthetic dose of ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, induces schizophrenia-like behavior in mice. Previous studies investigated the effect of single injection of ketamine on behavior and c-Fos expression in mice dose-dependently. However, there has not been functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to investigate the effect of ketamine in mice. Here, we...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 6, 2026
Adam Dawoud, Achla Gupta, Ivone Gomes et al.
preprint
Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) continues to be a pressing public health crisis, marked by high relapse rates and limited treatment options. Ketamine, a non-competitive N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist, has emerged as a promising therapeutic for numerous psychiatric illnesses due to its robust antidepressant properties and glutamate-mediated synaptic plasticity. However, ketamine's...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 1, 2026
Davide Orsenigo, Andrea I. Luppi, Matteo Diano et al.
preprint
Damage to the primary visual cortex causes loss of conscious vision, yet some patients retain the ability to respond to stimuli despite reporting no visual experience. Why similar lesions produce such different behavioral phenotypes remains unclear. While research to date has focused primarily on spared pathways that bypass V1, here we asked whether these divergent outcomes are also linked to...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 31, 2026
Xinlin Wang, Yannick Pomorin, Emma Peters et al.
preprint
Abstract During wakefulness, we are used to perceive the environment through our senses, act on it and take these inputs to update our experiences and build the perceptions. When the inputs are not longer accurate or structured, people would sometimes have hallucinatory experiences. Whether such experiences are associated with distinct patterns of thought, and how they relate to large-scale...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 27, 2026
Chloe L. West, Bradley Baker, Annabel Duran et al.
preprint
Abstract Background Serotonergic psychedelics show promise for treating psychiatric disorders, with symptom improvements lasting for weeks after a single dose. Clarifying the neural basis of these effects would benefit from an identification of empirical biomarkers of such lasting shifts in brain function. Resting state EEG offers a rapid (<5 minute), low-cost window into functional brain...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 25, 2026
Roberto De Filippo, Ryan Gillis, David G Wyrick et al.
preprint
Abstract Psilocybin profoundly alters visual perception, yet the neuronal mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. Here we combined large-scale Neuropixels recordings with cell-type-specific optogenetics in head-fixed mice performing a visual change-detection task. Psilocybin severely impaired task performance without overt motor deficits. In cortex, the drug modestly suppressed...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 20, 2026
Atakan Selte, Steven E. Haworth, Thomas J. Vanasse et al.
preprint
Abstract Identifying neural signatures of consciousness remains a central challenge in neuroscience. Sleep offers a tractable model for comparing brain activity in the presence or absence of subjective experience while minimizing behavioral responsiveness confounds. Using overnight 256-electrode high-density EEG in 140 participants and a serial-awakening paradigm, we analyzed 699 non-rapid eye...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 16, 2026
Maximillian Greenwald, Peter Thestrup Waade, Eren Kafadar et al.
preprint
Abstract Serotonergic psychedelics (SP) are increasingly used in clinical research and naturalistic settings, but their psychotic-like side effects, including persisting perceptual abnormalities (PPAs), are poorly understood. Psychosis-associated hallucinations are associated with susceptibility to conditioned hallucinations and computationally-estimated overweighting of perceptual...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 12, 2026
Orr Shahar, Perettz Golding, Masha Chaykin et al.
preprint
Abstract Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly prevalent, debilitating psychiatric condition. Existing treatments are ineffective for many patients. 3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy has demonstrated substantial clinical efficacy but relies on prolonged, resource-intensive therapeutic protocols that limit scalability and accessibility. Here, we...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 12, 2026
Orr Shahar, Alexander Botvinnik, Masha Chaykin et al.
preprint
Abstract N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) are structurally related tryptamine psychedelics with emerging therapeutic potential, yet their comparative acute pharmacology and longer-term neuroplastic effects remain incompletely defined. Here we show that DMT produces a bell-shaped dose–response curve in the mouse head-twitch response (HTR) assay,...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 11, 2026
István Pesti, Ágnes Bessenyei, Rita Frank et al.
preprint
ABSTRACT N,N -dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous psychedelic tryptamine that has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic candidate for acute ischemic stroke. Although DMT consistently reduces infarct size, attenuates neuroinflammation, and improves functional outcome in experimental stroke, the cellular and receptor mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood....
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 10, 2026
Aedan O'Shea, Natasha L. Mason, Jacco Briede et al.
preprint
Abstract Psilocybin acutely alters neurotrophic, neurochemical, and immune markers, but the relationships between these responses and circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), i.e. non-coding RNAs that regulate post-transcriptional gene expression, remain unclear. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 62 healthy adults who received psilocybin (0.17 mg/kg) or placebo, we previously...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 4, 2026
Conor H. Murray, Michael Angyus, Sam Suchin et al.
preprint
Abstract Altered states of consciousness (ASC) refer to states that differ markedly from normal waking consciousness. ASC may occur spontaneously, such as in dreaming, or through consciousness modifying techniques, from meditation, to cannabis and psychedelics. The etymology behind the term psychedelic, meaning mind-manifesting, is based on the hypothesis that certain substances, including...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 4, 2026
Teresa Campillo-Ferrer, Tomas Berjaga-Buisan, Antonella Iadarola et al.
preprint
Abstract Experiences in which the sense of the body becomes distorted offer a unique window into how the brain constructs the bodily self. Despite their clinical relevance in conditions such as depersonalization and body-image disorders, large-scale brain dynamics underlying unusual bodily experiences (UBEs) remain poorly understood, and no prior study has examined them systematically across...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
July 24, 2026
Roman Doronin, Eduard Stroukov, Georg B. Keller
preprint
SUMMARY Psychedelics are powerful modulators of conscious perception, hypothesized to exert their effects by reorganizing large-scale brain functional connectivity. The circuit mechanisms underlying this reorganization remain unknown. Here, using widefield calcium imaging in awake mice, we found that the psychedelic DOI, in a 5-HT2A-dependent manner, acutely decreased the modularity of the...