Giving psilocybin to rats made them more optimistic in the longer term, suggesting that the psychedelic substance could have great potential in treating a core symptom of depression in humans. ’s potential to safely and effectively treat appears to be highlighted with every new study into its effects. Now, Monash University researchers have added more evidence to the growing pile.
In a recent study, they found that giving psilocybin to rats improved their optimism over the long term. If the findings translate to humans, the naturally occurring psychedelic has great potential to treat a core symptom of depression. “Our team found that rats given psilocybin were more motivated to explore their environment and perform reward-based tasks,” said Professor Jakob Hohwy from the Monash Center for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies (M3CS) and the study’s co-senior author.
“These exciting results show the mechanisms of how psilocybin may work to increase optimism in an animal model, which we hope may translate to humans as well.” The researchers used a computational model to understand the information-processing mechanisms underlying the effects of psilocybin and how the substance may change specific model parameters over time. Put simply, information processing theory compares the brain to a computer that works in a set sequence: receiving information, processing it, and delivering an output.
Computational psychiatry is a growing field that aims to develop precise tre.