Psilocybin May Lead to Increased Optimism, Rat Study Suggests

Monash University researchers have made a breakthrough in the study of psychedelics to treat disorders including major depression, demonstrating that rats given psilocybin showed increased optimism over time.

Psilocybin is a psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms that has shown promise as a new treatment for depression. However, the information processing mechanisms affected by psilocybin are not well understood.

Now, an interdisciplinary team from Monash University has used computer modeling to demonstrate that rats given psilocybin display increased and long-lasting optimistic behavior to perform reward-based tasks.

The results, published in Translational psychiatrysuggest that psilocybin may be useful for treating core symptoms of major depression and other conditions characterized by reduced engagement and withdrawal.

Monash Ph.D. candidate Elizabeth (Beth) Fisher led the study, working with Professor Jakob Hohwy from the Monash Center for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies (M3CS) and Dr Claire Foldi from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute.

Professor Hohwy says the findings are a promising step towards explaining the mechanisms by which psychedelics may act to change the brain and increase engagement after treatment. “Our team found that rats given psilocybin were more motivated to explore their environment and perform reward-based tasks.

“These exciting results show the mechanisms by which psilocybin may act to increase optimism in an animal model, which we hope can also translate to humans.”

Fisher said the study should motivate confirmation of these effects in human studies, adding: “Knowledge about the mechanisms of psilocybin allows us to determine who may benefit from psychedelic therapies as well as those for whom these treatments might not be beneficial.

“With many people around the world affected by depression, our ultimate goal is to help better understand how psilocybin could be used to treat key symptoms people experience, such as decreased optimism, apathy and withdrawal from the world around them.”