Posted on 04/22/2025 6:24:20 PM PDT by Red Badger
In a nutshell
One dose of a psychedelic compound (25CN-NBOH) significantly improved cognitive flexibility in mice, even 2 to 3 weeks after the drug was administered.
Treated mice adapted better to new learning rules in a reversal task, showing stronger performance across multiple behavioral measures compared to controls.
These long-lasting effects suggest psychedelics may promote meaningful, enduring changes in brain plasticity, offering potential new approaches for treating conditions like depression, PTSD, and Alzheimer’s disease.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A single dose of a psychedelic compound could be key to helping your brain become more adaptable for weeks. University of Michigan researchers have discovered that mice given just one dose of a serotonin-activating psychedelic showed remarkable improvements in mental flexibility two to three weeks later, potentially revolutionizing how we might someday treat conditions like depression, PTSD, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
The research, published in the journal Psychedelics, reveals that mice given just one dose of a specific psychedelic compound called 25CN-NBOH were much better at adjusting to new rules in learning tests compared to those that didn’t when tested 2-3 weeks later.
For anyone who’s ever struggled to break a habit or adapt to new circumstances, this finding could point toward future treatments for conditions marked by cognitive rigidity, like depression, PTSD, and potentially even Alzheimer’s disease.
How Psychedelics Change the Brain Long After Use
The study builds on previous research showing psychedelics can trigger structural changes in the prefrontal cortex, the brain region responsible for high-level cognitive functions like decision-making and behavioral flexibility. This new research, however, demonstrates actual behavioral benefits persisting long after the mind-altering effects of the drug have worn off.
To test cognitive flexibility, researchers used a specialized device that dispensed food pellets when mice correctly followed a sequence of nose pokes. First, the mice learned to poke a left hole, followed by a right hole, to receive a reward. After six days of practice, researchers reversed the pattern, now requiring mice to poke right first, then left.
This reversal task mimics the kind of adaptation humans need when circumstances change in life. The mice given 25CN-NBOH 15-20 days earlier performed significantly better at adapting to the new rule than those given a saline solution.
Mental Flexibility After Psychedelic Treatment
Researchers used multiple metrics to measure results: “poke efficiency” (the proportion of food pellets dispensed relative to total pokes), percentage of correct trials, and total rewards earned. Across all metrics, the psychedelic-treated mice outperformed the control group during the reversal phase.
These cognitive benefits appeared in both male and female mice, suggesting the effect isn’t sex-dependent, a crucial consideration for potential use in human trials.
The researchers were careful to distinguish these long-term benefits from the immediate, mind-altering effects typically associated with psychedelics. Their experiment specifically examined effects 2-3 weeks after a single dose, well after any acute drug effects had disappeared.
This timing is key, as previous studies examining the acute effects of psychedelics on cognitive tasks have shown mixed or even negative results. When tested immediately after administration, some psychedelics can temporarily impair cognitive functions. But this new research suggests the lasting neuroplastic changes triggered by psychedelics may produce beneficial cognitive effects that emerge only after the drug has cleared the system.
Potential Human Therapies These results align with emerging human research suggesting psilocybin therapy increases cognitive and neural flexibility in patients with major depressive disorder. However, the researchers note that human studies to date have used repeated measurements with the same participants, making it difficult to separate drug effects from increased familiarity with the tasks.
The psychedelic used in the study, called 25CN-NBOH, is specially designed to target one brain receptor—known as the serotonin 2A receptor—that’s believed to play a key role in how psychedelics affect brain plasticity. It binds to this receptor 50 to 100 times more strongly than to similar ones, making it a powerful tool for studying how these drugs work in the brain.
Cognitive flexibility deficits appear in numerous disorders, including depression, PTSD, and neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. Current treatments for these conditions often fall short in addressing cognitive symptoms.
Beyond the Trip: Lasting Brain Benefits If these findings translate to humans, it could mean that a single dose of a psychedelic compound might help people become more adaptable and less cognitively rigid for weeks afterward, potentially opening new avenues for treating conditions characterized by inflexible thinking.
Psychedelics could potentially be used for long-term cognitive benefits, well beyond their effects during a trip. The ability to enhance the brain’s adaptability with a single dose of medication could totally change treatment approaches for several brain conditions that lack effective treatment paths.
Delics?? Aren’t them the bad guys from Doctor Who?
What now, the mice can distinguish Swiss cheese from Limburger?
Remember the jingle from “hooked on Phonics”? lol
lets hi-jack this thread and post some jams!! lol... call it a musical interlude... his thread is getting bumped to the top so its a win win!! heres a double shot!
https://youtu.be/hftgytmgQgE?list=RDhftgytmgQgE
https://youtu.be/gJktf4aTNvk?list=RDhftgytmgQgE
Remember it? I had to go to rehab because I got hooked on Phonics. I finally got over it and you had to bring it back up.
The CIA brought in NAZI doctors to guide MK-ULTRA under Operation Paperclip. They had been experimenting with them for over a decade.
Lol, well done Sir... :)
I did more than my share back through the 70s... We already did this study years ago...
I’m a vet of 49 Dead and, nah, didn’t help. Stick to shrooms and beer since you don’t have three days to spare for a trip anymore.
Please consider Aztec sacrificial practices in that light.
man I haven’t heard that tune in years!! what a classic !!
https://youtu.be/FRVSSwJYqh0?list=RDykwLLMDi524&t=6
I DON’T MUCH CARE FOR SHROOMS. THEY CAN KILL YOU IF YOU PICK THE WRONG ONES.............
We gave up the sacred Aztec sacrificial practices and what did we get in return? CLIMUTT CHAINZ.
Oh, it was being used in the old world long before the Aztecs...
You have to study the visual lessons found in ancient Curches...
it is very Spiritual. :)
You’re insane.
Loona tic lefty 60’s crap.
That looks like Jerry Garcia...................
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