The therapeutic potential of psychedelics (psilocybin, LSD, DMT, ayahuasca) is increasingly shown by clinical studies and is proposed to result from increases in neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to change throughout life. This systematic literature review summarizes the evidence that psychedelics induce neuroplasticity by focusing on psychedelics’ cellular and molecular neuroplasticity effects after single and repeated administration, as investigated in n=20 studies. Results suggest that a single administration of a psychedelic produces rapid changes in plasticity mechanisms on a molecular, neuronal, synaptic, and dendritic level. It is suggested that these adaptations run parallel to the clinical effects of psychedelics, potentially underlying them. Read the full paper here, published in Frontiers In Psychiatry.
