Cited by 171Psychedelics and Drug StudiesTreatment of Major DepressionNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Effects of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine on Rat Behaviors Relevant to Anxiety and Depression

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Cameron, Lindsay P., Benson, Charlie J., Dunlap, Lee E., Olson, David E.·2018·ACS Chemical Neuroscience

Abstract

Depression and anxiety disorders are debilitating diseases resulting in substantial economic costs to society. Traditional antidepressants often take weeks to months to positively affect mood and are ineffective for about 30% of the population. Alternatives, such as ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic capable of producing hallucinations, and the psychoactive tisane ayahuasca, have shown great promise due to their fast-acting nature and effectiveness in treatment-resistant populations. Here, we investigate the effects of N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), the principle hallucinogenic component of ayahuasca, in rodent behavioral assays relevant to anxiety and depression using adult, male, Sprague-Dawley rats. We find that while DMT elicits initial anxiogenic responses in several of these paradigms, its long-lasting effects tend to reduce anxiety by facilitating the extinction of cued fear memory. Furthermore, DMT reduces immobility in the forced swim test, which is a characteristic behavioral response induced by many antidepressants. Our results demonstrate that DMT produces antidepressant and anxiolytic behavioral effects in rodents, warranting further investigation of ayahuasca and classical psychedelics as treatments for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Crossref · 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00134

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  • The effects of psychoplastogens on structural plasticity in the PFC may explain why they have demonstrated efficacy in many preclinical rodent behavioral tests involving PFC circuitry including the forced swim test and fear extinction learning.

    “This may explain why they have demonstrated efficacy in many preclinical rodent behavioral tests involving PFC circuitry including the forced swim test and fear extinction learning (151, 194–197).”

    From Psychedelics and Other Psychoplastogens for Treating Mental Illness. (2021) · cites this paper as [194]

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  • Low doses of DMT produce beneficial effects in rodent behavioral paradigms relevant to treating depression and PTSD comparable to high doses.

    “we demonstrated that low doses of DMT produce beneficial effects in rodent behavioral paradigms relevant to treating depression and PTSD comparable to high doses”

    From Psychedelics and Other Psychoplastogens for Treating Mental Illness. (2021) · cites this paper as [194]

    The Results and Discussion report beneficial effects in rat behavioral tests relevant to depression and PTSD. But the authors say they used a single, hallucinogenic 10 mg/kg DMT dose for all studies; the paper does not establish effects of low doses or compare them with high doses. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.89)

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Authors
Cameron, L. P., Benson, C. J., Dunlap, L. E., & Olson, D. E.
Affiliations
University of California, Davis (US)
Corresponding author
Olson, David E.
Venue
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
Published
2018-04-17
Volume
9
Issue
7
Pages
1582-1590
ISSN
1948-7193 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2801418002
Cited by
171
References
78
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2012: 1
FWCI
15.54
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • ACS Chemical Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Division of Graduate Education (1650042)
  • MIND Institute, University of California, Davis
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
N,N-dimethyltryptamine, ayahuasca, hallucinogens, depression, anxiety, anxiolytic effects, antidepressant effects, fear extinction, forced swim test, immobility, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychedelic therapy, treatment-resistant depression
MeSH terms
Animals, Antidepressive Agents, Anxiety Disorders, Conditioning, Psychological, Depressive Disorder, N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, Disease Models, Animal, Exploratory Behavior, Fear, Feeding Behavior, Male, Motor Activity, Rats, Inbred SHR, Anti-Anxiety Agents

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