Summary: In a 2024 fMRI study, researchers found that a single dose of psilocybin significantly disrupted brain connectivity, particularly in the default mode network. The psychedelic drug caused lasting changes to the communication pathways that connect brain regions. These changes were associated with the subjective psychedelic experience and may underlie the therapeutic effects of psychedelics.
In today's world, characterized by increasing stress, anxiety, and mental health challenges, the search for effective and innovative treatments has never been more urgent. Psychedelic drugs, once largely stigmatized, are emerging as promising candidates for addressing a range of mental health conditions. This is due to their ability to induce profound and lasting changes in brain function and subjective experiences.
A recent study, leveraging precision functional mapping techniques, has shed new light on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of psychedelics. By tracking individual-specific brain changes over time, researchers have gained valuable insights into how these compounds interact with the human brain and potentially alter neural pathways associated with mental health disorders.
This research holds significant promise for the development of novel treatments that can help individuals overcome the challenges of mental illness and improve their overall well-being.
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Psilocybin Profoundly Disrupts Brain Connectivity:
The study found that psilocybin dramatically alters the way different brain regions communicate with each other, particularly in areas associated with self-awareness and perception of time and space. This disruption is much more significant than that caused by other substances like methylphenidate.
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The Psychedelic Experience is Correlated With Brain Changes:
The intensity of the mystical experience reported by participants was directly linked to the extent of brain connectivity changes, suggesting that these neural alterations underlie the subjective effects of psychedelics.
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Psilocybin-induced Changes May Have Long-lasting Effects:
The study observed persistent reductions in connectivity between the hippocampus and default mode network, even weeks after the psilocybin dose. This suggests that the drug may induce enduring changes in brain structure that could contribute to its therapeutic benefits.
A groundbreaking 2024 study led by Joshua S. Siegel, co-director of the Program in Psychedelics Research at Washington University's Department of Psychiatry, suggests that psychedelic drugs like psilocybin could offer a promising new approach to treating stress and mental health conditions. Researchers found that psilocybin disrupts brain function in a way that may be therapeutic, and that the intensity of the psychedelic experience is linked to the extent of these changes. Additionally, the study observed persistent effects on brain structure that could have long-lasting benefits.
A groundbreaking study on psilocybin, brain function, and mental health.
A pioneering study published in 2024 has provided significant insights into the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin. The research, conducted by a team of scientists from Washington University School of Medicine, revealed that psilocybin profoundly disrupts brain connectivity, particularly in the default mode network, a region associated with self-awareness and perception of time and space.
These dramatic changes in brain function have profound therapeutic implications for stress and mental health.
“These days, we know a lot about the psychological effects and the molecular/cellular effects of psilocybin,” said first author Joshua S. Siegel, MD, PhD, an instructor in psychiatry. “But we don’t know much about what happens at the level that connects the two — the level of functional brain networks.”
To fill that gap, Siegel pulled together a team including Dosenbach, who is an expert in brain imaging, and co-senior author Ginger E. Nicol, MD, an associate professor of psychiatry who has experience running clinical trials with controlled substances. Together, they devised a way to visualize the impact of psilocybin on individual participants’ functional brain networks – neural communication pathways that connect different brain regions – and to correlate changes in these networks with subjective experiences.
✔️ Fast facts from the study:
- Psilocybin induces significant changes in brain function: The researchers found that psilocybin dramatically alters the way different brain regions communicate with each other. These changes are far more extensive than those caused by other substances like methylphenidate.
- The psychedelic experience is correlated with brain changes: The intensity of the mystical experience reported by participants was directly linked to the extent of brain connectivity changes, suggesting that these neural alterations underlie the subjective effects of psychedelics.
- Psilocybin may have long-lasting effects: The study observed persistent reductions in connectivity between certain brain regions, even weeks after the psilocybin dose. This suggests that the drug may induce enduring changes in brain structure that could contribute to its therapeutic benefits.
The team recruited seven healthy adults to take a high dose of psilocybin or methylphenidate, the generic form of Ritalin, under controlled conditions. Because psychedelic trips carry the risk of users having negative or scary experiences, a pair of trained experts stayed with each participant throughout the experience. The experts helped prepare the participants for what they were likely to experience, provided guidance and support during each experiment, and helped the volunteers process what had occurred afterward. Each participant underwent an average of 18 functional MRI brain scans in the days to weeks before, during and up to three weeks after their experiences with psilocybin. Four participants returned six months later to repeat the experiment.
Researchers found that psilocybin caused profound and widespread — yet not permanent — changes to the brain’s functional networks, disrupting the synchronized patterns of neural activity that underlie our normal waking consciousness. This desynchronization, which is distinct from the effects of stimulants or other drugs, appears to be key to the psychedelic experience and may contribute to the drug's potential therapeutic benefits.
In particular, it desynchronized the default mode network, an interconnected set of brain areas that, ordinarily, are simultaneously active when the brain is not working on anything in particular. After falling out of sync, the network re-established itself when the acute effects of the drug wore off, but small differences from pre-psilocybin scans persisted for weeks. The default mode network remained stable in people who received methylphenidate.
“The idea is that you’re taking this system that’s fundamental to the brain’s ability to think about the self in relation to the world, and you’re totally desynchronizing it temporarily,” Siegel said. “In the short term, this creates a psychedelic experience. The longer-term consequence is that it makes the brain more flexible and potentially more able to come into a healthier state.”
Normally, each individual’s functional brain network is as distinctive as a fingerprint. Psilocybin distorted brain networks so thoroughly that individuals could no longer be identified until the acute affects wore off.
“The brains of people on psilocybin look more similar to each other than to their untripping selves,” Dosenbach said. “Their individuality is temporarily wiped out. This verifies, at a neuroscientific level, what people say about losing their sense of self during a trip.”
The study's findings have significant implications for the development of new treatments for mental health conditions. By targeting the fundamental mechanisms underlying consciousness and brain function, psychedelic drugs may offer a novel and effective approach to addressing a range of psychological challenges.
However, it is important to note that this study is just one piece of the puzzle. More research is needed to fully explore the potential benefits and risks of psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Additionally, there are potential limitations to the study. For example, the sample size was relatively small, and the participants were all healthy volunteers. Further research is needed to determine whether the findings generalize to individuals with mental health conditions. However, existing studies on treatment-resistant forms of depression, PTSD, and end-of-life anxiety show that psilocybin's effects are beneficial for a number of psychiatric conditions.
Despite these limitations, the study provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of the effects of psychedelic drugs on the brain. The findings suggest that these compounds may have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of mental health disorders.
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About this psychopharmacology research news.
Author: Joshua S. Siegel
Source: Program in Psychedelics Research, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Missouri
Contact: Joshua S. Siegel – Washington University
Original Research: Open access.
“Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain" by Joshua S. Siegel et al. Nature
Simple summary.
A new study has found that psychedelic drugs like psilocybin can dramatically alter brain function in a way that may have therapeutic implications for stress and mental health. The research revealed that psilocybin disrupts the synchronized patterns of neural activity that underlie our normal waking consciousness, and that this disruption is linked to the subjective effects of the drug. Additionally, the study observed persistent changes in brain structure that could have long-lasting benefits. While more research is needed, these findings suggest that psychedelic drugs may offer a promising new approach to treating mental health conditions.
Abstract.
A single dose of psilocybin, a psychedelic that acutely causes distortions of space–time perception and ego dissolution, produces rapid and persistent therapeutic effects in human clinical trials1,2,3,4. In animal models, psilocybin induces neuroplasticity in cortex and hippocampus5,6,7,8. It remains unclear how human brain network changes relate to subjective and lasting effects of psychedelics. Here we tracked individual-specific brain changes with longitudinal precision functional mapping (roughly 18 magnetic resonance imaging visits per participant). Healthy adults were tracked before, during and for 3 weeks after high-dose psilocybin (25 mg) and methylphenidate (40 mg), and brought back for an additional psilocybin dose 6–12 months later. Psilocybin massively disrupted functional connectivity (FC) in cortex and subcortex, acutely causing more than threefold greater change than methylphenidate. These FC changes were driven by brain desynchronization across spatial scales (areal, global), which dissolved network distinctions by reducing correlations within and anticorrelations between networks. Psilocybin-driven FC changes were strongest in the default mode network, which is connected to the anterior hippocampus and is thought to create our sense of space, time and self. Individual differences in FC changes were strongly linked to the subjective psychedelic experience. Performing a perceptual task reduced psilocybin-driven FC changes. Psilocybin caused persistent decrease in FC between the anterior hippocampus and default mode network, lasting for weeks. Persistent reduction of hippocampal-default mode network connectivity may represent a neuroanatomical and mechanistic correlate of the proplasticity and therapeutic effects of psychedelics.
