Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
October 17, 2026
Fionnghuala L J James, Sayed K Ahamed, Cheng-I Yang et al.
Traumatic memories that are resistant to modification or extinction are a characteristic feature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The process of fear memory reconsolidation has been identified as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of PTSD. Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist with dissociative properties, has been identified as a drug with high therapeutic potential for...
Behavioural Pharmacology
October 13, 2026
Bart A. Ellenbroek, Beth Naylor, Jiun Youn
Psilocybin has emerged as a promising therapeutic agent, with clinical benefits attributed to enhanced neuroplasticity rather than acute pharmacological effects. However, the fundamental mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood. Using planarians as a model system, we investigated whether psilocybin enhances associative learning using a conditioned place preference paradigm....
Molecular Neurobiology
October 12, 2026
Daiane Momo Daneluz, Alana Sueli Dos Santos, Silvana Regina De Melo et al.
Psychedelic drugs promote rapid neuroplasticity in brain regions affected by trauma exposure, such as the prelimbic (PL) cortex and the dorsal hippocampus (DH), being investigated as potential treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder. Ayahuasca (Aya) contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine, a classic psychedelic. Our previous work showed that Aya reduces fear expression by impairing fear memory...
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...
September 25, 2026
Apoorav Sharma, Lovleen Marwaha
The neuroplasticity, the natural ability of the brain to change its structure and its functioning based on experience has become a unifying concept of neuroscience, psychology and even clinical practise. This chapter discusses the potential of neuroplasticity in achieving psychological wellbeing through deliberate cognitive and behavioral activities, including mindfulness, positive thinking,...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
September 25, 2026
Jennifer Jones, Joseph Redding, Emily Amador
Tobacco use remains a leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. Although several pharmacotherapies and behavioral treatments for tobacco use disorder (TUD) exist, their overall efficacy is modest, underscoring the need for innovative treatment approaches. Ketamine, a rapid-acting glutamate receptor antagonist with neuroplasticity-enhancing properties, has shown promise in the...
Chinese medical journal
September 15, 2026
Yingjie Du, Xiangting Zhao, Quan Chen et al.
Psilocybin facilitates fear extinction in rodents, but its clinical utility is hampered by 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) 2A-receptor-mediated hallucinogenic effects. This study aimed to explore whether 5-HT2A receptor is obligatory for psilocybin's fear extinction and neuroplasticity effect. Male C57BL/6J mice underwent auditory-cue fear conditioning. Ketanserin (5-HT2A/2C antagonist) or MDL100907...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
September 14, 2026
Shaun Robinson
preprint
Psilocybin and related psychedelics can induce transient states of increased neural variability, context sensitivity, and plasticity-associated signaling. We hypothesize that selected companion botanicals can be composed with psilocybin to create a reproducible physiological and experiential lens, a botanical context, that biases the qualitative trajectory of the psychedelic state without...
Anesthesia Research
September 11, 2026
M. S. Neves, C. T. P. Gusmão, Raimundo Chiyo et al.
Background/Objectives: Neuropathic and chronic centralized pain disorders remain difficult to treat because they involve central sensitization, maladaptive neuroplasticity, neuroimmune activation, affective amplification, and large-scale network dysfunction. Psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic acting primarily through 5-HT2A receptor agonism, has emerged as a candidate modulator of chronic...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 9, 2026
Romain Hacquet, P Pantiya, G Gotti et al.
Abstract Background Psychedelics such as psilocybin have demonstrated rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in humans, particularly when administered in carefully designed therapeutic environments (Borkel et al., 2024; Carhart-Harris et al., 2021). DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, distinguished by their brief duration of psychedelic effects, have also shown encouraging preliminary outcomes in depressive...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 9, 2026
A Solomon, Y Domany
Abstract Background A critical gap exists in understanding the biological mechanism linking ketamine’s rapid anti-suicidal effects to the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS). While the "Kinetic Mismatch" between acute relief and delayed synaptogenesis is well-known, current models overlook how ketamine modulates “Thwarted Belongingness” (a core IPTS pillar) and the attachment anxiety that...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 9, 2026
Gabriella Gobbi
Abstract Background While the monoaminergic hypothesis has long dominated the treatment of mood disorders, its limitations have prompted the exploration of alternative mechanisms. Early work by Skolnick et al. (1996) demonstrated that chronic antidepressant treatment induces adaptive changes in N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, suggesting glutamatergic signaling as a convergent pathway in...
Nature Communications
September 1, 2026
Maxime Veleanu, Louise E. Schuberth, Antje Kilias et al.
The pathophysiology of depression involves multiple biological processes, including circuit dysfunction and impaired neuroplasticity, yet an integrative view linking these processes remains elusive. Here, we identify a convergent circuit for antidepressant response and plasticity modulation. We demonstrate that chemogenetic activation of the infralimbic cortex (IL) exerts rapid...
Pharmacological Research
August 26, 2026
Mattia Giovenzana, Noemi Nicosia, Stefano Spinosa et al.
Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) comprise a heterogeneous group of conditions arising from altered brain development and leading to impairments in social, cognitive, emotional, and motor domains. Clinical manifestations are highly variable in severity and symptom profile, reflecting the complex and multifactorial etiology of NDDs. Available treatments are limited to early behavioral...
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
August 20, 2026
Charalampos L. Kandilakis, Costas Papatheodoropoulos
Psychedelic-assisted therapy has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach across several psychiatric disorders, yet the mechanisms linking acute brain-state changes and subjective experience to sustained clinical improvement remain incompletely understood. Here, we extend a previously proposed excitation/inhibition (E/I)-centred dual-phase model of psychedelic action to the therapeutic...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
August 17, 2026
David Eckert
The re-emergence of serotonergic psychedelics has introduced rapid-acting antidepressant effects and has been widely described as a paradigmatic shift in depression treatment. Recently, there has been intense debate about whether the acute subjective effects of psychedelics are necessary for their therapeutic efficacy or merely byproducts of underlying neuroplastic processes. Recent...
Der Nervenarzt
August 17, 2026
Stefan Vestring, Katharina Domschke, Claus Normann
Ketamine has been established as an anesthetic agent for decades. Around the turn of the millennium initial clinical studies demonstrated that subanesthetic doses of ketamine can exert antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant depression. These findings established the concept of an effective glutamatergic antidepressant treatment and initiated a paradigm shift. For many years, intravenous...
Neurochemical Research
August 8, 2026
Duarte R Carvalhinho, Sandra I Marques, Sandra Leal et al.
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays a key role in regulating neurogenesis and inflammatory processes in the brain. The increasing prevalence of Cannabis use among women highlights the importance of understanding sex-specific effects of cannabinoids, particularly in the context of hormonal interactions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and...
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
August 1, 2026
Fabrizio Ascone, Diletta Giangiacomo, Viviana Trezza
Classic psychedelics have re-emerged as compelling probes of neural plasticity, raising interest in their potential relevance for behavioral and circuit-level features associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although only a limited number of studies have examined these compounds in validated animal models of ASD, a growing body of preclinical work has investigated their effects on...
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
August 1, 2026
Mengyang He, Zhifei Shi, Ruijie Zhan et al.
Depression is a complex mental disorder threatening global public health. Its pathophysiological mechanisms involve multidimensional dysfunctions including the emotional-cognitive circuit, Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis, neurotransmitter systems and neuroplasticity. Current studies mostly analyze each system in isolation, lacking a unified integrated framework. This review proposes...