Neuroplastic white matter changes in patients with major depression following lysergic acid diethylamide treatment
Mihai Avram, Aurore Menegaux, Felix Müller, Hannes Zaczek, Alexandra Korda, Helena Rogg, Anna M. Becker, Laura Ley, Matthias E. Liechti, Stefan Borgwardt · 2026
Read Neuroplastic white matter changes in patients with major depression following lysergic acid diethylamide treatment by Mihai Avram, Aurore Menegaux, Felix Müller, Hannes Zaczek, Alexandra Korda, Helena Rogg, Anna M. Becker, Laura Ley, Matthias E. Liechti, Stefan Borgwardt (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13293959.txt.
Description
Mihai Avram and co-authors scan the brains of depressed patients treated with LSD for signs of rewiring. The parent trial randomized 61 patients to low or moderate-to-high doses, four weeks apart. Clinical gains were reported, but the mechanism stayed murky. Their 2026 analysis uses diffusion imaging in 35 patients to read white matter microstructure. The measure, fractional anisotropy, tracks how directed water flow is along fiber bundles.
The high-dose group shows group-by-time gains in several tracts: both capsules, the sagittal stratum, and the fornix region. Within that group, higher post-treatment values track better mood scores for twelve weeks. The pattern suggests structural plasticity riding with recovery. Small numbers counsel care, but the imaging gives the psychedelic effect a physical address.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Mihai Avram, Aurore Menegaux, Felix Müller, Hannes Zaczek, Alexandra Korda, Helena Rogg, Anna M. Becker, Laura Ley, Matthias E. Liechti, Stefan Borgwardt |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 64 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |