Scientists at McGill University have discovered that mice micro-dosed with LSD have an increased level of sociability, pointing to a mechanism by which the drug can influence behaviour at these low concentrations.
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was discovered by accident while developing stimulants, and was first used to study psychotic states. There was initially great interest in and use of LSD for psychiatric treatment, but the harmful and lasting side-effects resulted in it steadily being outlawed. However, recent anecdotal evidence of individuals self-administering micro-doses of LSD to improve cognitive functioning have helped spur renewed interest in the famous drug.To investigate the ways LSD might be working on the brain, the McGill University researchers dosed mice with low levels of LSD over seven days, and observed a measurable increase in sociability.
This is useful as a main outcome of the study is a mechanism that describes the increased feelings of empathy and awareness that users of LSD describe.
Co-lead author Prof Nahum Sonenberg at McGill University, world renowned expert in the molecular biology of diseases, explained: “The fact that LSD binds the 5-HT2A receptor was previously known. The novelty of this research is to have identified that the prosocial effects of LSD activate the 5-HT2 receptors, which in-turn activate the excitatory synapses of the AMPA receptor as well as the protein complex mTORC1, which has been demonstrated to be dysregulated in diseases with social deficits such as autism spectrum disorder.
“Their next research goal is treating mutant mice with behavioural deficits mimicking human psychological pathologies, and to find out if micro-dosed LSD or some derivative could be a safe and effective therapeutic option.
“Social interaction is a fundamental characteristic of human behaviour,” noted co-lead author Dr Gabriella Gobbi, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill and psychiatrist at the McGill University Health Centre. “These hallucinogenic compounds, which, at low doses, are able to increase sociability may help to better understand the pharmacology and neurobiology of social behavior and, ultimately, to develop and discover novel and safer drugs for mental disorders.”
Source: Medical Xpress
Journal information: Danilo De Gregorio et al, Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) promotes social behavior through mTORC1 in the excitatory neurotransmission, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2021). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2020705118
