TIPS - Trends in Pharmacological Sciences
September 24, 2021
Lily R. Aleksandrova, Anthony G. Phillips
255 citations
The emerging therapeutic efficacy of ketamine and classical psychedelics for depression has inspired tremendous interest in the underlying neurobiological mechanisms. We review preclinical and clinical evidence supporting neuroplasticity as a convergent downstream mechanism of action for these novel fast-acting antidepressants. Through their primary glutamate or serotonin receptor targets,...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 10, 2021
Cato M. H. de Vos, Natasha L. Mason, Kim P. C. Kuypers
259 citations
Clinical studies suggest the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, including ayahuasca, DMT, psilocybin, and LSD, in stress-related disorders. These substances induce cognitive, antidepressant, anxiolytic, and antiaddictive effects suggested to arise from biological changes similar to conventional antidepressants or the rapid-acting substance ketamine. The proposed route is by inducing brain...
Behavioural Brain Research
August 23, 2021
Carolina Aparecida Faria Almeida, Antônio Alves Pereira-Júnior, Jéssica Gonçalves Rangel et al.
33 citations
Alcohol use disorder needs more effective treatments because relapse rates remain high. Psychedelics, such as ayahuasca, have been used to treat substance use disorders. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of ayahuasca on ethanol-induced behavioral sensitization (EIBS). Swiss mice received 2.2 g/kg ethanol or saline IP injections every other day across nine days (D1, D3, D5, D7, and D9),...
Brain Sciences
August 18, 2021
Roberto Guidotti, Cosimo Del Gratta, Mauro Gianni Perrucci et al.
27 citations
(1) The effects of intensive mental training based on meditation on the functional and structural organization of the human brain have been addressed by several neuroscientific studies. However, how large-scale connectivity patterns are affected by long-term practice of the main forms of meditation, Focused Attention (FA) and Open Monitoring (OM), as well as by aging, has not yet been...
Experimental and therapeutic medicine
August 5, 2021
Ioana Rădulescu, A. Drăgoi, S. Trifu et al.
In modern society, depression is one of the most common mental illness; however, its pathophysiology is not yet fully understood. A great body of evidence suggests that depression causes changes in neuroplasticity in specific regions of the brain which are correlated to symptom severity, negative emotional rumination as well as fear learning. Depression is correlated with atrophy of neurons in...
World Journal of Psychiatry
June 19, 2021
Hewa Artin, S. Zisook, Dhakshin Ramanathan
Depression is a common mental disorder and one of the leading causes of disability around the world. Monoaminergic antidepressants often take weeks to months to work and are not effective for all patients. This has led to a search for a better understanding of the pathogenesis of depression as well as to the development of novel antidepressants. One such novel antidepressant is ketamine, which...
Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine
May 3, 2021
Alexander F. Hoffman, Eun-Kyung Hwang, Carl R. Lupica
preprint
The ability of neurons to dynamically and flexibly encode synaptic inputs via short- and long-term plasticity is critical to an organism's ability to learn and adapt to the environment. Whereas synaptic plasticity may be encoded by pre- or postsynaptic mechanisms, current evidence suggests that optimization of learning requires both forms of plasticity. Endogenous cannabinoids (eCBs) play...
Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science
April 1, 2021
Yujing Zhang, Bing Xie, Yin Yuan et al.
Background Poststroke social isolation could worsen poststroke depression and dampen neurogenesis. (R,S)-ketamine has antidepressant and neuroprotective effects; however, its roles and mechanisms in social isolation–mediated depressive-like behaviors and sensorimotor recovery remain unclear. Methods Mice were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion, and then were pair-housed...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
February 25, 2021
Mario de la Fuente Revenga, Bohan Zhu, Christopher A. Guevara et al.
11 citations
preprint
Clinical evidence suggests a potential therapeutic effect of classic psychedelics for the treatment of depression. The most outstanding and distinct characteristic is the rapid and sustained antidepressant action with one single exposure to the drug. However, the biological substrates and key mediators of psychedelics’ enduring action remain unknown. Here, we show that a single administration...
Translational Psychiatry
September 28, 2020
José Á. Morales-García, Javier Calleja‐conde, Jose Antonio López‐moreno et al.
139 citations
Abstract N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a component of the ayahuasca brew traditionally used for ritual and therapeutic purposes across several South American countries. Here, we have examined, in vitro and vivo, the potential neurogenic effect of DMT. Our results demonstrate that DMT administration activates the main adult neurogenic niche, the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of the...