Psychedelics and Neuroplasticity A Systematic Review Unraveling the Biological Underpinnings of Psychedelics.
Clinical studies suggest the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, including ayahuasca, DMT, psilocybin, and LSD, in stress-related disorders. These substances induce cognitive, antidepressant, anxiolytic, and antiaddictive effects suggested to arise from biological changes similar to conventional antidepressants or the rapid-acting substance ketamine. The proposed route is by inducing brain neuroplasticity. This review attempts to summarize the evidence that psychedelics induce neuroplasticity by focusing on psychedelics cellular and molecular neuroplasticity effects after single and repeated administration. When behavioral parameters are encountered in the selected studies, the biological pathways will be linked to the behavioral effects. Additionally, knowledge gaps in the underlying biology of clinical outcomes of psychedelics are highlighted. The literature searched yielded 344 results. Title and abstract screening reduced the sample to 35 eight were included from other sources, and full-text screening resulted in the final selection of 16 preclinical and four clinical studies. Studies (