Effective connectivity of emotion and cognition under psilocybin
Devon Stoliker, Leonardo Novelli, Franz X. Vollenweider, Gary F. Egan, Katrin H. Preller, Adeel Razi
medRxiv September 9, 2022 preprint DOI: 10.1101/2022.09.06.22279626 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Placebo-controlled Double-blind |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 24 |
| Population | Healthy adults |
| Intervention | Psilocybin |
| Dose | 0.215mg/kg |
| Topics | Default mode network Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Amygdala Hallucinogen Cognition Salience neuroscience Cognitive psychology |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key findings | Psilocybin decreased top-down effective connectivity from resting state networks to the amygdala and altered connectivity within and between these networks, associated with changes in emotion and meaning. |
Abstract
Abstract Classic psychedelics alter sense of self and patterns of self-related thought. These changes are hypothesised to underlie their therapeutic efficacy across internalising pathologies such as addiction and depression. Using resting-state functional MRI images from a randomised, double blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 24 healthy adults under 0.215mg/kg psilocybin, we investigated how psilocybin modulates the effective connectivity between resting state networks and the amygdala that are involved in the appraisal and regulation of emotion and association with clinical symptoms. The networks included the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN) and central executive network (CEN). Psilocybin decreased top-down effective connectivity from the resting state networks to the amygdala and decreased effective connectivity within the DMN and SN, while the within CEN effective connectivity increased. Effective connectivity changes were also associated with altered emotion and meaning under psilocybin. Our findings identify changes to cognitive-emotional connectivity associated with the subjective effects of psilocybin and the attenuation of the amygdala signal as a potential biomarker of psilocybin’s therapeutic efficacy.