One small dose of a psychedelic compound could help brains better adapt to changing circumstances, potentially improving treatments for those struggling with depression, PTSD, and neurodegenerative diseases, according to experiments conducted in mice. The results of the study were reported in the journal Psychedelics.
"What makes this discovery particularly significant is the sustained duration of cognitive benefits following just one psychedelic dose," Omar J. Ahmed, a psychology researcher at the University of Michigan and a co-author of the study, said in a press release. "We observed enhanced learning adaptability that persisted for weeks, suggesting these compounds may induce lasting and behaviorally meaningful neuroplasticity changes in the prefrontal cortex."
Measuring Cognitive Flexibility
In the experiments, researchers treated mice with a single dose of a potent hallucinogen called 25CN-NBOH. That chemical binds very specifically to a serotonin receptor, then activates it. Serotonin receptors are often associated with depression.
Mice treated with the compound performed better than the mice that were not. The improvements lasted two to three weeks following administration. The resuults were similar in both male and female mice.
The researchers essentially tested how well they could adapt to changes in rules required to perform a particular task. Such tests are considered standard ways to measure what scientists call “cognitive flexibility” — the ability to try new approaches to accomplish the same job.
The mice treated with the psychedelic showed a better ability to adapt than ones who received a saline solution instead. The psychedelic mice also performed their tasks both more efficiently and more accurately.
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