Elife March 31, 2026 Jessica L Maltman, Javier González-Maeso
Human neurons derived from stem cells show increased structural complexity and stronger synaptic connections after exposure to psilocin, the active metabolite of the psychedelic psilocybin.
Research Square March 31, 2026 Marcus W. Meinhardt, Ivan Skorodumov, Florian Walter et al.
Abstract Alcohol use disorder is a major global health problem, and current treatments often fail to produce lasting reductions in harmful drinking1,2. Psychedelic-assisted therapies may promote durable behavioural change by enhancing brain plasticity during emotionally meaningful experiences, but progress has been limited by a lack of experimental models that capture these context-dependent...
Elife March 27, 2026 Målin Schmidt, Anne Hoffrichter, Mahnaz Davoudi et al. 3 citations
Psilocybin is studied as innovative medication in anxiety, substance abuse and treatment-resistant depression. Animal studies show that psychedelics promote neuronal plasticity by strengthening synaptic responses and protein synthesis. However, the exact molecular and cellular changes induced by psilocybin in the human brain are not known. Here, we treated human cortical neurons derived from...
Biomolecules March 24, 2026 Veronica Begni, Floriana de Cillis, Natascha Pfeiffer et al.
Pharmacological antidepressant treatments alter the molecular and functional reactivity of stress-sensitive neural networks. However, how classical versus rapid-acting antidepressants differentially modulate acute stress-induced transcriptional responses across brain regions remains unclear. Here, we compared imipramine and ketamine in mice exposed to acute swim stress, assessing...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) March 23, 2026 Marco Taddei-Tardón, Lidia Medina-Rodríguez, Jessica L Maltman et al.
Abstract Serotonergic psychedelics have attracted considerable interest as promising therapeutic agents. However, the molecular mechanisms linking their acute hallucinogenic-like effects to longer-lasting neuroplastic responses remain incompletely understood, partly because of the scarcity of native neural models suitable for mechanistic studies. Here, we developed a neural stem cell-derived in...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs March 20, 2026 Marina A. M. Portes, Leandro J Bertoglio
Psilocybin, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) are psychedelic compounds with therapeutic potential for depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. However, their relevance to endurance athletes, who face particular psychological and physical stressors, remains underexplored. This study combines a conceptual overview...
International Journal of Molecular Sciences March 20, 2026 Ivan Anchesi, Ivana Raffaele, M. Astorino et al.
The clinical renaissance of psychedelic medicine has highlighted the therapeutic potential of rapid-acting neuroplastogens, or "psychoplastogens," for psychiatric disorders. However, the widespread application of classical psychedelics-such as psilocybin and LSD-and the atypical dissociative ibogaine is severely limited by their hallucinogenic properties and, particularly in the case of...
Molecules and Cells March 10, 2026 Victoria N. Chang, Roberto Ogelman, R. Vargas et al. 1 citation
Excitatory synapse plasticity at postsynaptic dendritic spines is directly modulated through neurotransmitter signaling. Serotonin (5-HT) is a primary neuromodulator in the brain that activates 14 subtypes of G-protein-coupled receptors, each with distinct expression patterns and downstream signaling mechanisms. Disruptions of serotonergic transmission during development and adulthood induce...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) March 8, 2026 Nitzan Geva, Sarah J. Jefferson, Emi Krishnamurthy et al.
Abstract Fear extinction requires dynamic updating of cortical representations, yet the neural mechanisms underlying successful extinction remain poorly understood. Some psychoactive substances induce structural plasticity in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), possibly underlying their therapeutic potential. Here we investigated whether MDMA, which enhances fear extinction, induces prefrontal...
Molecular and cellular neurosciences March 1, 2026 Mustafa M Shokr, Mohamed N Fawzy, Ahmed M Abdelaziz
Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of the brain to modify synaptic connections and reorganize neural circuits, underpinning cognitive function, emotional regulation, and recovery from injury. Recent advances have redefined adult neuroplasticity as more dynamic and therapeutically accessible than previously thought, spurring investigation into pharmacological interventions that can augment...
Molecular Psychiatry March 1, 2026 Tyler G. Ekins, Chloe Rybicki-Kler, Tao Deng et al. 9 citations
Classical psychedelic drugs show promise as a treatment for major depressive disorder and related psychiatric disorders. This therapeutic efficacy stems from long-lasting psychedelic-induced neuroplasticity onto prefrontal cortical neurons and is thought to require the postsynaptic expression of serotonin 2A receptors (5-HT_2AR). However, other cortical regions such as the granular...