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The active components of hallucinogenic mushrooms, psilocybin and psilocin, are known to affect the brain in different ways. For instance, they influence serotonin receptors associated with neuroplasticity, cognitive processes, and mood regulation.
Prior research has demonstrated that psilocybin can increase the density of dendritic spines, stimulate genes associated with neuroplasticity, and improve synaptic plasticity.
Now a new study has found that psilocybin extracts may also have a hand in reversing memory deficits brought on by chronic stress. Already, prior studies have shown that chronic stress decreases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the hippocampus, a region crucial for learning and memory.
The objective of this latest study was to determine whether psilocybin extracts could mitigate these effects. For their study, the researchers used 140 male Wistar rats who were subjected to an unpredictable chronic mild stress protocol. This model helps replicate the long-term effects of stress in humans. It involves animals being exposed to various unpredictable but mild stressors over a certain period, causing physiological and behavioral changes as well as cognitive impairments.
The researchers begun by dividing the rats into groups based on whether they were exposed to chronic stress and if they received a placebo or psilocybin extract, with each group having 7 rats. For a 4-week period, the rats were exposed to stressors like water and food deprivation, heat stress and cold water, with the researchers testing the effects of the extract at different times.
The researchers discovered that rats exposed to stress demonstrated impairments in memory and spatial learning, which confirmed the cognitive deficits brought on by stress. The rats also had lower brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in their hippocampus, which aligns to previous research.
In addition to this, they observed that when the psychedelic’s extract was administered under certain conditions, it repaired memory impairments and spatial learning and also increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein necessary for brain plasticity.
While these findings are encouraging, there are limitations to consider. For starters, the study only used male rats, which raises the issue of whether similar effects would be observed in female rats.
The researchers also used psilocybin extract rather than purified psilocin or psilocybin. Additionally, the long-term consequences of the psychedelic’s administration are still unclear.
The researchers reported their findings in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, with the study’s author Dr. Salar Vaseghi, noting that psychedelics could be very dangerous and shouldn’t be openly accessible. Other researchers involved included Reza Ghaffarzadegan, Ali Razmi, Mokhtar Karimi, Samira Roustaei, Behnaz Hedayatjoo, Mahsa Mohammadi, Eghbal Jasemi, and Hamidreza Behnoud.
Psilocybin has been linked to many more therapeutic effects, and several startups like atai Life Sciences N.V. (NASDAQ: ATAI) are working to develop formulations leveraging those medicinal attributes.
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