BERKELEY, CA — Researchers at the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics (BCSP) have begun enrolling participants in a new study investigating how psilocybin may affect memory, perception, emotion, and brain structure and function in healthy older adults.
The study, known as PLASTICITY (Psychedelic Longitudinal Aging Study In Cognitively Healthy Older Adults), dosed its first participant this year, marking a milestone in research on aging and neuroplasticity. The experiments in this study address a significant gap: while thousands of people have received psilocybin in controlled research settings over the past several decades, older adults have been largely absent from modern psychedelic studies, representing less than 1.4% of all participants.
As populations age worldwide, cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease are becoming increasingly common, with significant consequences for individuals, families and health care systems. Given this demographic shift and the rising burden of neurodegenerative disease, there is an urgent need for new strategies to promote successful aging. This study examines whether psilocybin could serve as one such strategy.
This study explores whether psilocybin, a compound known to influence brain plasticity, may offer a new avenue to promote healthy aging.
The interdisciplinary project was designed by Tyler Toueg, a Ph.D. candidate in the neuroscience graduate program at UC Berkeley, along with UC Berkeley faculty spanning neuroscience and psychology: Michael Silver, a leading neuroscientist in the study of psychedelics; William Jagust, a prominent neuroscientist studying brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease; Dacher Keltner, renowned psychologist on emotion, awe and well-being; and Brian Anderson, a psychiatrist at both UCSF and the BCSP, who is also acting as the medical director for the study.
Researchers will administer between 1 – 30 mg synthetic psilocybin and assess outcomes over the following two months. The experimental methods are cognitive, perceptual, and emotion testing and advanced brain imaging, including diffusion MRI to measure hippocampal microstructure and functional MRI to examine brain activity during memory encoding and retrieval. Participants will also undergo measures of visual perception and will complete surveys examining how subjective aspects of the experience relate to longer-term changes in well-being.
Previous research in animals suggests that psilocybin has shown to increase the number of synaptic connections in the hippocampus, which could theoretically counteract neural changes associated with aging. This study will be among the first to directly examine whether psychedelics may counteract these changes in healthy older adults.
“Older adults have been almost entirely excluded from modern psychedelic research, yet they may stand to benefit significantly from compounds that promote brain plasticity,” says Silver, a professor of optometry and vision science and neuroscience and the faculty director of the BCSP. “This study allows us to directly test whether the promising findings from animal models translate to older humans and to generate data that will inform future research on aging, cognition, and mental health.”
By integrating cognitive, perceptual, emotional, and biological measures, the study aims to generate foundational data on how a single psychedelic experience may influence brain structure and function and processes related to aging.
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About the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics
The UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics (BCSP) is an academic research center dedicated to the advancement of psychedelic discovery for the public good. The BCSP serves as a leading trusted source for scientific and interdisciplinary inquiry through rigorous scientific research, balanced journalism, accessible public education and reciprocal community engagement. The BCSP envisions a world in which progress in psychedelic research, public education, policy and practice lead to improvements in health and well-being. The BCSP is guided by the values and principles of acting with integrity and transparency, conducting rigorous research, serving as responsible stewards of public resources, embodying equity and reciprocity, and approaching the work with curiosity. For more information, visit psychedelics.berkeley.edu.