Abstract

Research into the use of psilocybin for the treatment of psychiatric disorders is a growing field. Nevertheless, robust brain–behavior relationships linking psilocybin-induced brain changes to subjective drug-induced effects have not been established. Furthermore, it is unclear if the acute neural effects are dependent on individual heterogeneity in baseline characteristics. To address this, we assessed the effects of three oral doses of psilocybin vs. placebo on cerebral blood flow (CBF) using arterial spin labeling in healthy participants (N = 70; n = 31, 0.16 mg/kg; n = 10, 0.2 mg/kg; n = 29, 0.215 mg/kg). First, we quantified psilocybin-induced changes in relative and absolute CBF. Second, in an exploratory analysis, we assessed whether individual baseline characteristics and subjective psychedelic experience are associated with changes in CBF. Psychological and neurobiological baseline characteristics correlated with the psilocybin-induced reduction in relative CBF and the psilocybin-induced subjective experience. Furthermore, the psilocybin-induced subjective experience was associated with acute changes in relative and absolute CBF. The results demonstrated that inter-individual heterogeneity in the neural response to psilocybin is associated with baseline characteristics and shed light on the mechanisms underlying the psychedelic-induced altered state. Overall, these findings help guide the search for biomarkers, paving the way for a personalized medicine approach within the framework of psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Details

Title
Psilocybin-induced changes in cerebral blood flow are associated with acute and baseline inter-individual differences
Author
Rieser, Nathalie M. 1 ; Gubser, Ladina P. 1 ; Moujaes, Flora 2 ; Duerler, Patricia 1 ; Lewis, Candace R. 3 ; Michels, Lars 4 ; Vollenweider, Franz X. 1 ; Preller, Katrin H. 1 

 Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Zurich, Switzerland (GRID:grid.412004.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0478 9977) 
 Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Zurich, Switzerland (GRID:grid.412004.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0478 9977); Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, USA (GRID:grid.47100.32) (ISNI:0000000419368710) 
 Arizona State University, School of Life Sciences, Tempe, USA (GRID:grid.215654.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 2151 2636) 
 University Hospital Zurich, Department of Neuroradiology, Zurich, Switzerland (GRID:grid.412004.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 0478 9977); University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland (GRID:grid.7400.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 0650) 
Pages
17475
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2877037487
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.