Psychedelic LSD activates neurotrophic signal but fails to stimulate neural stem cells.
Xiaoxu Dong, He Lin, Yuting Li, Gang Pei, Shichao Huang
Stem cell research & therapy September 11, 2024 DOI: 10.1186/s13287-024-03909-8 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Laboratory study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Human neural stem cells |
| Intervention | LSD |
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Psychedelics hallucinogens Entheogens Neuroscience brain science Neurobiology Neural research Neurotransmission Trkb signaling Growth factors Bdnf Neural stem cell |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | LSD activates TrkB signaling in human neural stem cells but does not promote their proliferation, unlike BDNF. |
Abstract
Accumulating evidence has shown that some hallucinogens, such as LSD, have fast and persistent effects on anxiety and depression. According to a proposed mechanism, LSD activates the TrkB and HTR2A signaling pathways, which enhance the density of neuronal dendritic spines and synaptic function, and thus promote brain function. Moreover, TrkB signaling is also known to be crucial for neural stem cell (NSC)-mediated neuroregeneration to repair dysfunctional neurons. However, the impact of LSD on neural stem cells remains to be elucidated. In this study, we observed that LSD and BDNF activated the TrkB pathway in human NSCs similarly to neurons. However, unlike BDNF, LSD did not promote NSC proliferation. These results suggest that LSD may activate an alternative mechanism to counteract the effects of BDNF-TrkB signaling on NSCs. Our findings shed light on the previously unrecognized cell type-specificity of LSD. This could be crucial for deepening our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the effects of LSD.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on LSD, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging. Human participants | 2016 | Experimental study | |
| Crystal structure of an LSD-bound human serotonin receptor | 2017 | Experimental study with structural biology and molecular dynamics simulations | |
| Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: Sensitive Neuronal Units in the Midbrain Raphe Midbrain neurons containing serotonin | 1968 | Experimental study | |
| Connectome-harmonic decomposition of human brain activity reveals dynamical repertoire re-organization under LSD. Human brain | 2017 | Experimental study | |
| LSD-Assisted Psychotherapy in Patients with Terminal Cancer Cancer patients | 1973 | Experimental study | n = 60 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
- Changing your mind: neuroplastic mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of psychedelics in depression, PTSD, and addiction Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry October 1, 2025
- Cellular mechanisms of serotonergic psychedelics - apical hypercontextualisation. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews July 1, 2026
Cites 6
- Psychedelics Promote Structural and Functional Neural Plasticity Cell Reports June 1, 2018
- A non-hallucinogenic psychedelic analogue with therapeutic potential. Nature 2021
- LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: A qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects Journal of Psychopharmacology November 11, 2014
- Psychedelics promote plasticity by directly binding to BDNF receptor TrkB Nature Neuroscience June 1, 2023
- Structure-based discovery of nonhallucinogenic psychedelic analogs Science January 27, 2022
and 1 more in the library