# Neurophysiological impacts of hallucinogens on hippocampal and cortical neural circuits

> **NIH NIH R01** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2024 · $360,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the interest of using psychedelics as experimental therapies for
drug addition, depression and anxiety disorders. However, psychedelics are also powerful drugs that alter neural
functions in the brain. To understand their potential benefits or risks, it is important to determine the
neurophysiological effects of psychedelics on neural circuits in vivo. The psychedelic drug lysergic acid
diethylamide (LSD) is a classic hallucinogen that can alter perceptual and cognitive functions in humans and
animals. This project studies the neurophysiological impacts of LSD on the sensory and memory neural circuits
in freely behaving rats. We will focus on a hypothesis that the interactions between the visual cortex and the
hippocampus are reduced by LSD, which leads to imprecise spatial representations during active spatial
navigation and impaired neural activity reactivations during offline behavior that are important for memory
retrieval and consolidation. To test the hypothesis, we will simultaneously record neurons in the hippocampus
and the visual cortex while rats under LSD learn or perform a spatial working memory task and while they sleep.
We will determine how hippocampal and visual cortical activities and their interactions are altered by LSD during
active and immobile behavior and during sleep, how the alterations depend on LSD dosage and the serotonergic
5HT2A receptors, how they are correlated with behavioral task performances, and how they can be augmented
or alleviated by manipulating the network oscillations typical of active and offline behavior. This study will reveal
the in vivo neurophysiological effects of the psychedelic drug LSD, advance our understanding on how
alterations in the sensory and memory circuits may contribute to the psychotic state generated by drugs and in
psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, and uncover potential risks when psychedelics are explored as
novel therapies for drug addiction and mental disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10769885
- **Project number:** 5R01DA054977-03
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Daoyun Ji
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $360,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-04-01 → 2027-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10769885

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10769885, Neurophysiological impacts of hallucinogens on hippocampal and cortical neural circuits (5R01DA054977-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10769885. Licensed CC0.

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