Structural plasticity and enhanced fear extinction following psilocybin in chronically stressed mice.
Cory A. Knox, Samuel C Woodburn, Amelia D. Gilbert, Jason M. Schlotzhauer, Alex C. Kwan
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology April 22, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.64898/2026.04.21.720014 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Longitudinal imaging study |
|---|---|
| Population | Mice |
| Intervention | Psilocybin |
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Key findings | Psilocybin increases dendritic spine density in frontal cortical neurons and facilitates fear extinction after chronic restraint stress in mice. |
Abstract
The classic psychedelic psilocybin elicits long-lasting neural plasticity and behavioral effects, but prior studies largely examined stress-naive animals. Using longitudinal imaging, we show that psilocybin increases dendritic spine density in frontal cortical neurons and facilitates fear extinction after chronic restraint stress, demonstrating psilocybin's effects in a translationally relevant mouse model.