Authors: Sandeep Singh; Alexander Botvinnik; Orr Shahar; Gilly Wolf; Corel Yakobi; Michal Saban; Adham Salama; Amit Lotan; Bernard Lerer; Tzuri Lifschytz · Research

Can Psilocybin Help Treat Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

Research explores how psilocybin affects compulsive behaviors in mice and its potential for treating OCD through novel mechanisms

Source: Singh, S., Botvinnik, A., Shahar, O., Wolf, G., Yakobi, C., Saban, M., Salama, A., Lotan, A., Lerer, B., & Lifschytz, T. (2023). Effect of psilocybin on marble burying in ICR mice: role of 5-HT1A receptors and implications for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Translational Psychiatry, 13(1), 164. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-023-02456-9

What you need to know

  • Psilocybin shows promise for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) through mechanisms different from current medications
  • The effects appear separate from psilocybin’s psychedelic properties, suggesting potential therapeutic use without hallucinogenic effects
  • Combining psilocybin with certain medications may allow therapeutic benefits while blocking unwanted psychedelic effects

Understanding OCD and Current Treatments

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects approximately 100-150 million people worldwide. People with OCD experience uncontrollable, recurring thoughts (obsessions) that cause significant distress, along with repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) they feel driven to perform.

Current treatments for OCD include:

  • Antidepressant medications that affect serotonin levels in the brain
  • Antipsychotic medications used as add-on treatments
  • Cognitive behavioral therapy, particularly exposure and response prevention

Unfortunately, at least one-third of patients don’t respond well to these standard treatments. This has led researchers to explore alternative approaches, including psychedelic compounds like psilocybin.

How Researchers Study OCD-Like Behaviors

To study potential OCD treatments, researchers often use a test called “marble burying” with mice. While mice naturally dig and bury objects in their environment, excessive burying behavior can model aspects of human OCD. When mice bury fewer marbles, it suggests a treatment might help reduce compulsive behaviors.

This test isn’t a perfect model of human OCD, but it helps identify promising treatments since medications that reduce marble burying often prove helpful for OCD symptoms in humans.

What This Study Found

The researchers discovered several important things about how psilocybin affects compulsive behaviors in mice:

  1. Psilocybin significantly reduced marble burying behavior, similar to established OCD medications like escitalopram

  2. This anti-compulsive effect worked through different brain mechanisms than typical OCD medications, which mainly target serotonin receptors called 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A

  3. The effect required giving the full dose at once rather than spreading it out over time

  4. When combined with a medication called buspirone, psilocybin’s psychedelic effects were blocked while its anti-compulsive effects remained

Why This Matters for Treatment

These findings are exciting for several reasons:

  1. They suggest psilocybin might help treat OCD through novel mechanisms, potentially helping patients who don’t respond to current medications

  2. The anti-compulsive effects appear separate from psilocybin’s psychedelic properties. This means it might be possible to get therapeutic benefits without hallucinations or other psychedelic experiences

  3. Combining psilocybin with certain medications like buspirone could allow therapeutic use while minimizing unwanted psychedelic effects

Limitations and Next Steps

Important limitations of this research include:

  • The studies were done only in male mice - effects might differ in females
  • The marble burying test, while useful, doesn’t capture all aspects of human OCD
  • More research is needed to understand exactly how psilocybin produces its anti-compulsive effects
  • Human trials are still needed to confirm these findings translate to people with OCD

Conclusions

  • Psilocybin shows promise as a novel treatment for OCD, working through different mechanisms than current medications
  • The therapeutic effects appear separate from its psychedelic properties
  • Combining psilocybin with certain medications might allow therapeutic benefits while blocking unwanted effects
  • While encouraging, more research is needed before psilocybin could become an approved OCD treatment
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