Explore / Peer-reviewed article
Peer-reviewed articleOpen access

Vigilance state dissociation induced by 5-MeO-DMT in mice.

Bréant BJBiD, Prius Mengual J, Andrews AiD, Hoerder-Suabedissen AiD, Patel JiD, Bannerman DMiD, Sharp TiD, Vyazovskiy VViD

Communications biologyJan 5, 2026License: open accessUnited Kingdom2 citationsDOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-09412-x

Abstract

Psychedelics lead to profound changes in subjective experience and behaviour, which are typically conceptualised in psychological terms rather than corresponding to an altered brain state or a distinct state of vigilance. Here, we performed chronic electrophysiological recordings from the neocortex concomitant with pupillometry in freely moving adult male mice following an injection of a short-acting psychedelic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT). We report an acute induction of a dissociated state, characterised by prominent slow oscillations in the cortex and marked pupil dilation in behaviourally awake, moving animals. REM sleep was initially markedly suppressed, but was overcompensated in the subsequent 48 hours, while administration of 5-MeO-DMT immediately after sleep deprivation attenuated the subsequent rebound of sleep slow-wave activity. We argue that the occurrence of a dissociated state combining features of waking and sleep may fundamentally underpin the known and hypothesised effects of psychedelics - from dream-like hallucinations to reopening of the critical period for plasticity.

Topics & conditions

Detected automatically by Psychedelic Commons from the title and abstract, not labels from the source. They may be incomplete.

DMT5-MeO-DMT

Psychedelic Commons aggregates metadata from open sources and links back to the original. Rights remain with the authors and publishers. Something wrong with this record? Report a problem.