Changes in brain structure and function following exposure to oral LSD during adolescence: A multimodal MRI study

Background : LSD is a hallucinogen with complex neurobiological and behavioral effects. Underlying these effects are changes in brain neuroplasticity. This is the first study to follow the developmental changes in brain structure and function following LSD exposure in periadolescence. Methods: Female and male mice were given vehicle, single or multiple treatments of 3.3 µg of LSD by oral gavage starting on postnatal day 51. Between postnatal days 90-120 mice were imaged and tested for cognitive and motor behavior. MRI data from voxel-based morphometry, diffusion weighted imaging, and BOLD resting state functional connectivity were registered to a mouse 3D MRI atlas with 139 brain regions providing site-specific differences in global brain structure and functional connectivity between experimental groups. Results: Motor behavior and cognitive performance were unaffected by periadolescent exposure to LSD. Differences across experimental groups in brain volume for any of the 139 brain areas were few in number and not focused on any specific brain region. Multiple exposures to LSD significantly altered gray matter microarchitecture across much of the brain. These changes were primary associated with the thalamus, sensory and motor cortices, and basal ganglia. The forebrain olfactory system and prefrontal cortex and hindbrain cerebellum and brainstem were unaffected. The functional connectivity between forebrain white matter tracts and sensorimotor cortices and hippocampus was reduced with multidose LSD exposure. Conclusion: Does early exposure to LSD in periadolescence have lasting effects on brain development? There was no evidence of LSD having consequential effects on cognitive or motor behavior when animal were evaluated as young adults 90-120 days of age. Neither were there any differences in the volume of specific brain areas between experimental conditions. The pronounced changes in indices of anisotropy across much of the brain would suggest altered gray matter microarchitecture and neuroplasticity. The reduction in connectivity in forebrain white matter tracts with multidose LSD and consolidation around sensorimotor and hippocampal brain areas requires a battery of tests to understand the consequences of these changes on behavior.