Psychedelic exposure during adolescence disrupts a brain circuit linked to lasting social avoidance in rats
Psychedelics, drugs that alter people's perceptions, mood and thoughts, have recently shown promise for the treatment of some psychiatric disorders. Yet many psychedelic drugs remain controlled substances in most countries worldwide.
Recent research published in Nature Neuroscience reveals that exposure to the psychedelic compound 25C-NBOMe during adolescence can disrupt a key brain circuit, leading to lasting social avoidance in adult male rats. Conducted by researchers at Ningbo University and its affiliated hospitals, the study focused on Sprague-Dawley rats, a commonly studied albino rat breed in laboratory settings known for its calm temperament.
The team administered the synthetic psychedelic compound to the rats, either during adolescence or adulthood, and observed the resulting neural activity and social behavior. The findings suggest that adolescent exposure to 25C-NBOMe induced a tendency in adult male rats to avoid situations requiring competition for resources. This behavioral change was not observed in rats exposed to the compound in adulthood.
The researchers detected disrupted synchronization between the ventral hippocampus and the orbitofrontal cortex, brain regions involved in memory, emotional processing, and social behavior. This disruption in hippocampal–prefrontal synchrony, particularly in the theta band coherence, strongly predicted the adult rats' competitive avoidance behavior.
Importantly, the team found that restoring the disrupted synchrony using chemogenetic techniques could reverse the avoidance behavior in drug-exposed rats. This study highlights the potential long-term impact of adolescent psychedelic exposure on social behavior and provides insights into the underlying neural mechanisms. Future research should investigate whether similar effects occur in female rats and across other psychedelic compounds.
While these findings are based on rat models, they could inform further studies on human consequences of adolescent psychedelic use.
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