Psilocybin rapidly spurs new dendritic spine growth in mouse brains, Nature Neuroscience study finds
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A UC Santa Cruz team reports in Nature Neuroscience that two-photon microscopy in living mouse brains shows psilocybin promotes the formation and maturation of dendritic spines within 24 hours of administration. In chronically stressed mice, the drug also suppressed excessive loss of preexisting neuronal connections, a process linked to stress-related brain changes. The findings provide a window into how a single psilocybin dose can structurally remodel neural circuits at the level of individual synapses, a mechanism of interest to researchers exploring psychedelic-based therapies for depression and other psychiatric conditions. The study is in mice; whether equivalent structural plasticity occurs in human brains has not been established by this work.
Written by a model from the reports · updated 2 hours ago
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A UC Santa Cruz team reports in Nature Neuroscience (DOI: 10.1038/s41593-026-02490-y) that, using two-photon microscopy in mice, psilocybin rapidly promotes dendritic spine formation and maturation within 24 hours, and in chronically stressed mice it also suppresses excessive loss of existing connections.
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