{"title":"Psilocybin enhances conditioned place preference learning in planarians.","authors":"Bart A Ellenbroek, Beth Naylor, Jiun Youn","doi":"10.1097/FBP.0000000000000903","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Psilocybin has emerged as a promising therapeutic agent, with clinical benefits attributed to enhanced neuroplasticity rather than acute pharmacological effects. However, the fundamental mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood. Using planarians as a model system, we investigated whether psilocybin enhances associative learning using a conditioned place preference paradigm. Following a single exposure to 5 µM psilocybin, planarians underwent 5 days of conditioning in which light was paired with sucrose. Psilocybin-treated planarians showed a significantly greater shift in light preference compared to controls (time × group × drug interaction: F(2,38) = 3.3, P < 0.05), with effects persisting at least 6 days post-administration. These findings demonstrate that psilocybin enhances appetitive associative learning in an invertebrate model, supporting the hypothesis that psychedelic-induced neuroplasticity operates through evolutionarily conserved serotonergic mechanisms.</p>","PeriodicalId":8832,"journal":{"name":"Behavioural Pharmacology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Behavioural Pharmacology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1097/FBP.0000000000000903","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Psilocybin has emerged as a promising therapeutic agent, with clinical benefits attributed to enhanced neuroplasticity rather than acute pharmacological effects. However, the fundamental mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood. Using planarians as a model system, we investigated whether psilocybin enhances associative learning using a conditioned place preference paradigm. Following a single exposure to 5 µM psilocybin, planarians underwent 5 days of conditioning in which light was paired with sucrose. Psilocybin-treated planarians showed a significantly greater shift in light preference compared to controls (time × group × drug interaction: F(2,38) = 3.3, P < 0.05), with effects persisting at least 6 days post-administration. These findings demonstrate that psilocybin enhances appetitive associative learning in an invertebrate model, supporting the hypothesis that psychedelic-induced neuroplasticity operates through evolutionarily conserved serotonergic mechanisms.
期刊介绍：
Behavioural Pharmacology accepts original full and short research reports in diverse areas ranging from ethopharmacology to the pharmacology of schedule-controlled operant behaviour, provided that their primary focus is behavioural. Suitable topics include drug, chemical and hormonal effects on behaviour, the neurochemical mechanisms under-lying behaviour, and behavioural methods for the study of drug action. Both animal and human studies are welcome; however, studies reporting neurochemical data should have a predominantly behavioural focus, and human studies should not consist exclusively of clinical trials or case reports. Preference is given to studies that demonstrate and develop the potential of behavioural methods, and to papers reporting findings of direct relevance to clinical problems. Papers making a significant theoretical contribution are particularly welcome and, where possible and merited, space is made available for authors to explore fully the theoretical implications of their findings. Reviews of an area of the literature or at an appropriate stage in the development of an author’s own work are welcome. Commentaries in areas of current interest are also considered for publication, as are Reviews and Commentaries in areas outside behavioural pharmacology, but of importance and interest to behavioural pharmacologists. Behavioural Pharmacology publishes frequent Special Issues on current hot topics. The editors welcome correspondence about whether a paper in preparation might be suitable for inclusion in a Special Issue.
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