Psychedelics Promote Structural and Functional Neural Plasticity

Psychedelics Promote Structural and Functional Neural Plasticity

Classical serotonergic psychedelics are known to cause changes in mood and brain function  that persist long after the acute effects of the drugs have subsided. Moreover, several psychedelics elevate glutamate levels in the cortex and increase gene expression in vivo of the neurotrophin BDNF as well as immediate-early genes associated with plasticity. This indirect evidence has led to the reasonable hypothesis that psychedelics promote structural and functional neural plasticity, although this assumption had never been rigorously tested. The data presented here provide direct evidence for this hypothesis, demonstrating that psychedelics cause both structural and functional changes in cortical neurons.