Search bioRxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/bioRxiv

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.02.28.482395

Psilocybin induces spatially constrained alterations in thalamic functional organization and connectivity

Gaddis, A.·Lidstone, D. E.·Nebel, M. B.·Griffiths, R. R.·Mostofsky, S. H.·Meija, A.·Barrett, F. S.
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

BackgroundSerotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) agonist psychedelics including psilocybin and LSD ("classic" psychedelics) evoke acute alterations in perception and cognition. Altered thalamocortical connectivity has been proposed to underlie these effects, which is supported by some functional MRI (fMRI) studies. Likely due to sample size limitations, these studies have treated the thalamus as a unitary structure, despite known differential 5-HT2AR expression and functional specificity of different intrathalamic nuclei. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) has been employed to generate functional subdivisions of the thalamus from resting state fMRI (rsfMRI) data. This report utilizes a novel data-sparing ICA approach in order to examine psilocybin-induced changes in intrathalamic functional organization and thalamocortical connectivity. MethodsBaseline rsfMRI data (n=38) was utilized to generate a template, which was then applied in a novel ICA-based analysis of the acute effects of psilocybin on intra- and extra-thalamic functional organization and connectivity in a smaller sample (n=18). Correlations with subjective reports of drug effect and comparisons with a previously reported analytic approach (treating the thalamus as a single functional unit) were conducted. ResultsSeveral intrathalamic components showed significant psilocybin-induced alterations in intrathalamic spatial organization, largely localized to the mediodorsal and pulvinar nuclei, and correlated with reported subjective effects. These same components demonstrated alterations in thalamocortical connectivity, largely with visual and default mode networks. Analysis in which the thalamus is treated as a singular unitary structure showed an overall numerical increase in thalamocortical connectivity, consistent with previous literature using this approach, but this increase did not reach statistical significance. ConclusionsUtilization of a novel analytic approach demonstrated changes in intra- and extra-thalamic functional organization and connectivity of intrathalamic nuclei and cortical networks known to express the 5-HT2AR. Given that these changes were not observed using whole-thalamus analyses, it seems that psilocybin may cause widespread but modest increases in thalamocortical connectivity that are offset by strong focal decreases in functionally relevant intrathalamic nuclei.

Source connections

Explore related subjects

neurosciencePreprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Gaddis, A., Lidstone, D. E., Nebel, M. B., Griffiths, R. R., Mostofsky, S. H., Meija, A., Barrett, F. S.. 2022-03-02. Psilocybin induces spatially constrained alterations in thalamic functional organization and connectivity. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.28.482395

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Cell Types in Describing Neuronal Physiological Features

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) captures detailed gene expression profiles at scale, while patch-clamp recordings measure intrinsic neuronal electrophysiological properties. Modeling the relations between these two modalities remains a challenge. Here, we compare how well electrophysiological features can be predicted by traditional transcriptomic cell type classification, representations derived from a foundational model (scGPT) pretrained on large-scale scRNA-seq datasets, ion channel-coding genes, and highly variable genes. Using paired transcriptomic and electrophysiological patch-sequencing data from 495 human neurons from neurosurgical tissue, we find that cluster-level cell type representations consistently outperform highly variable gene selection, ion channel gene selection, and context-enriched scGPT embeddings. Notably, performance varies across model architectures and initializations, and the best results are obtained by combining the outputs of separate cell type and scGPT-based models. Together, these findings suggest that traditional discrete cellular classification is highly effective in predicting physiological features. For maximum performance it can be complemented by pretrained transformer models.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2026

A nonlinear inhibition pathway underlying cortical responses to tuned holographic optogenetic perturbations

Optogenetics enables causal manipulation of cortical activity. Perturbation responses can be counterintuitive due to network interactions, making theory essential for predicting them. Existing approaches often rely on linear approximations, which fail for many biologically relevant perturbations. Here we develop a nonlinear theory of responses to holographic perturbations in cell-type-specific recurrent networks with structured connectivity. We fit a nonlinear model to mouse V1 data, which shows cotuned-ensemble suppression: perturbing spatially clustered neurons with similar preferred orientations yields markedly stronger short-range suppression than perturbing untuned ensembles. We show that cotuned-ensemble suppression arises from a feature-tuned, nonlinear inhibition pathway implicating somatostatin-positive (SST) interneurons. The theory predicts that cotuned ensembles suppress parvalbumin-positive (PV) neurons but facilitate SST neurons, and links the degree of cotuned-ensemble suppression or facilitation to the variance of the SST response. This framework identifies mechanisms by which nonlinear inhibition sculpts cortical dynamics and establishes a predictive basis for targeted optogenetic interventions.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2026

Proteomic signatures of APOE ε4 across human tissues and cell types in Alzheimers disease

The apolipoprotein E {varepsilon}4 (APOE {varepsilon}4) allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimers disease (AD). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. This study included 1691 participants from the Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project (ROSMAP), 1226 participants from the Accelerating Medicines Partnership - Alzheimers Disease (AMP-AD) Diverse Cohorts Study, and 735 participants from the Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). To characterise APOE {varepsilon}4 molecular effects, we analysed proteomic data from plasma, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived astrocytes and neurons, as well as transcriptomic and proteomic data from multiple brain regions. The association of APOE {varepsilon}4 with AD neuropathology was also examined. APOE {varepsilon}4 carriers shared a plasma proteomic signature enriched for immune processes, irrespective of AD diagnosis. A machine learning classifier trained on this signature discriminated APOE {varepsilon}4 carriers from non-carriers in an independent cohort using CSF proteomics. APOE {varepsilon}4 carriage was associated with higher Braak stages and Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimers Disease (CERAD) score. However, only limited APOE {varepsilon}4-associated transcriptomic and proteomic changes were observed in bulk brain tissue, with poor cross-layer concordance. Proteomic analyses of iPSC-derived astrocytes and neurons further revealed cell-type-specific APOE {varepsilon}4-associated changes. APOE {varepsilon}4 is associated with a consistent proteomic signature across plasma and CSF. Its molecular effects in the brain differ across cell types, brain regions and molecular layers. These findings support the need for cell-type-resolved multi-omic studies to elucidate how APOE {varepsilon}4 confers AD risk.

neuroscience↗