Browsing by Author "Ilkka, Liisa"

After decades of lull, the use of psychedelics as therapeutical agents has regained both scientific and public attention. The so-called classical psychedelics are currently studied in the treatment of multiple psychiatric conditions, including addiction. The current understanding implies that psychedelics mediate their subjective effects through serotonergic 5-HT2A receptor binding. The activation of the receptor also leads to increases in brainderived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression, a critical part of neuroplasticity mechanisms. At a behavioral level, facilitated neuroplasticity can be observed for example as quicker learning. Because addiction often involves associative learning between the pleasure produced by the drug use and the environmental cues, learning away from these associations could help to prevent relapses and enhance recovery. In this study we aimed to assess LSD’s effect on BDNF levels in amygdalar and cortical regions, and their connection to extinction learning in fear and conditioned place preference paradigms. To evaluate time window for enhanced neuroplasticity, we chose two time points for BDNF level measurement, 24 and 48 h after the LSD injections. In addition, we chose both male and female mice for behavioral experiments to study possible differences between the sexes. We did not observe statistically significant differences between the treatment groups in BDNF levels or behavioral experiments after the single LSD injections. Despite that, this study provides perspectives for improving the experimental setups, as well as helps to evaluate still unanswered questions around the connection between psychedelics and neuroplasticity.