(Press-News.org) Magic mushrooms may not be the answer to postpartum depression, new research from the University of California, Davis suggests.
In a first-of-its-kind study appearing in Nature Communications, an interdisciplinary team from the university’s Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics (IPN) dosed mouse mothers with psilocybin and found that the drug amplified anxiety and depressive-like symptoms associated with perinatal mood disorders — mental health conditions that can arise during or after pregnancy.
While psilocybin and its ability to promote neuronal growth have been previously shown to benefit those with mental health conditions, the new research indicates that it’s not a one-size-fits-all therapy.
“The IPN has done a lot of work demonstrating that a single dose of a psychedelic can lead to long-lasting, beneficial effects,” said study co-author David E. Olson, director of the IPN and a professor of chemistry, biochemistry and molecular medicine at UC Davis. “But it’s a little more nuanced than that in terms of who can really benefit and who might be at risk. There are different patient populations.”
With mental illness being the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States, the research lays a critical foundation in the search for a viable therapeutic.
“There is an urgent need for treatments in the postpartum period,” said study co-author and IPN affiliate Danielle Stolzenberg, an associate professor of psychology at UC Davis. “I think most importantly what we’ve learned is that the effects of psychedelics can differ based on the ovarian hormone context and that is a critically important finding.”
Not only were psylocibin’s negative impacts long-lasting in mouse mothers (persisting for two weeks after a single dose), but the researchers also found that offspring raised by psylocibin-treated mothers also exhibited anxiety and depression-like symptoms long into adulthood.
The finding suggests that the mothers passed on those negative effects via lactation, permanently stunting the offspring’s neurodevelopment.
A one-of-a-kind mouse model for postpartum depression
The study was built around Stolzenberg’s innovative mouse model of postpartum depression.
In the model, mouse mothers live with their offspring in a two-cage system that allows them to escape from the demands of motherhood. Stolzenberg found that repeated exposure to a social threat (a male mouse) destabilizes maternal behavior, leading to infant avoidance and triggering other stress responses. These symptoms are hallmarks of postpartum depression in humans.
“One of the things that’s discussed consistently in the clinical literature is that moms often feel like they have trouble bonding with their infants when they’re experiencing depressive symptoms,” Stolzenberg said. “The mouse moms in the social stress paradigm spend significantly more time in the cage without the pups. They will often run back and forth to check on them but tend to actively avoid their infants for long periods of time.”
The team initially thought the treatment might help alleviate postpartum depression symptoms.
“Psilocybin was of such interest for us because it’s been demonstrated to be useful across a whole host of mental disorders, including addressing anxiety and depression,” said study first-author Cassandra Hatzipantelis, a postdoctoral fellow at the IPN. “We thought it could have the ability to address things that go wrong in postpartum depression like parent-infant connection.”
Instead, psilocybin induced the opposite effect, having both negative behavioral impacts on mothers and their offspring. Mouse mothers continued avoiding their offspring and displaying anxiety and depressive-like symptoms. These symptoms persisted after mice were separated from their offspring.
“Two weeks after a single dose of psylocibin, the mothers were dramatically impaired,” Hatzipantelis said. “We were shocked.”
Psilocybin-treated mice, the researchers found, were at higher risk for behavioral impairments and depressive-like symptoms.
“I was very surprised that we saw the moms getting worse,” Olson said.
Virgin female mice did not show such effects. The findings indicate that there may be distinct neurochemical differences in the brains of mouse mothers that led to psilocybin producing adverse effects.
“We know that ovarian hormones regulate serotonergic signaling, but we understand very little about the interaction between ovarian hormones and drugs that impact serotonin,” said Stolzenberg, noting that the latter is critical to how psychedelics affect the brain.
Passing on negative effects to offspring
The team also found that behavioral effects were passed to the offspring. Nine weeks after weaning, both male and female offspring exhibited pronounced measures of anxiety and depression compared to the control groups. Their brains also showcased traces of psilocin — a metabolite of psilocybin.
“We now know that even low doses of exposure can impact offspring for long periods of time,” Stolzenberg said.
The study highlights the IPN’s commitment to studying both the positive and negative effects of psychedelics.
“These could be really important therapeutics, but we also realize they have limitations, and we have to conduct rigorous science to understand what those limitations are,” Olson said.
Since its launch in 2023, the IPN has attracted nearly 80 UC Davis faculty affiliates spanning diverse fields from anthropology and chemistry to neuropharmacology and genomics.
“UC Davis has incredible experts across a breadth of fields and in specialized domains,” Olson said. “That’s why we can do this type of high impact, interdisciplinary science. It’s really the people.”
Additional study authors include Min Liu, Adam Love, Sadie J. Leventhal, Hero Maera, Srinidhi Viswanathan, Emily Avetisyan, Liana Belinsky, McKenna M. Rangel, Nina J. Jain, Max Kelly, Claire Copeland, Yara A. Khatib and Oliver Fiehn..
The research reported here was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (R01HD087709, R35GM148182), the W. M. Keck Foundation, the University of California at Davis Pilot Project Program Award from the Perinatal Origins of Disparities Center, and the University of California at Davis Academic Senate Large Grant Award.
END
Psilocybin may present unique risks during the postpartum period
2025-09-30
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Immune cell ‘signatures’ could help guide treatment for critically ill patients
2025-09-30
When a patient enters the emergency department in critical condition, doctors must quickly run through a crucial list of questions: Does the patient have an infection? If so, is it bacterial or viral? Do they require treatment? Can the patient recover at home safely or do they need to be hospitalized?
Even when an infection is diagnosed, the treatment plan isn’t always clear. Some sepsis patients, for instance, recover well with steroid treatment, while others react poorly and their condition declines. But clues ...
USC Stem Cell-led study generates authentic embryonic stem cell from birds
2025-09-30
Egg whites may be perfect for a health-conscious breakfast, but egg yolks turned out to be the key ingredient for cultivating bird embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in the lab. Using a growing medium of egg yolk along with a few other key factors, a USC Stem Cell-led team of scientists has succeeded in deriving and maintaining authentic ESCs from chickens and seven other bird species. These bird ESCs hold tremendous promise for applications ranging from studying embryonic development to producing lab-grown poultry to reviving endangered or even extinct birds.
The study appears today in Nature Biotechnology.
“A true embryonic ...
Medicaid work requirements have not boosted insurance coverage or employment
2025-09-30
The introduction of work requirements for certain adults enrolled in the US health insurance program Medicaid has so far failed to boost insurance coverage or employment rates, finds a study published by The BMJ today.
It shows that health insurance coverage and employment did not increase after Georgia implemented Medicaid expansion with work requirements. Work requirements are due to be rolled out across the US in 2026 as part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Georgia was the first state to expand Medicaid with work requirements under the Pathways to Coverage program in 2023, but little is ...
Biologic drug reduces symptoms, hospitalization for severe pulmonary hypertension after diagnosis
2025-09-30
Prescribing the biologic drug sotatercept alongside standard treatment for the most severe form of pulmonary hypertension significantly reduces the likelihood of worsening disease when added within the first year after diagnosis, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Within the first year of receiving a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) diagnosis, patients who took sotatercept in addition to standard-of-care therapy reduced the risk experiencing deterioration in health — such as less ability to exercise, worsening symptoms and unplanned hospitalizations ...
Experts warn federal cuts may extinguish momentum in tobacco control
2025-09-30
A new commentary paper in Nicotine and Tobacco Research, published by Oxford University Press, argues that recent cuts to the National Institutes of Health, including about $2 billion in terminated research grants and a $783 million cut to research funding linked to diversity and inclusion initiatives, will have a dramatically negative effect on efforts to combat tobacco usage and health disparities in the United States.
The health and economic burdens of commercial nicotine and tobacco use are high, contributing to about 480,000 premature US deaths ...
The insomnia trade-off
2025-09-30
One-third of our lives is spent sleeping, yet 30 to 40 percent of adults are reported to experience some form of insomnia. Japan in particular has the lowest sleep duration among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, falling at one hour below average.
Public health research has identified long commutes, noise, and light pollution from densely populated living environments as factors that impair sleep. While such metropolitan housing offers advantages in commuting time, its livability is far less than the suburbs. To find a balance between convenience and sleep, urban architecture research, which examines the relationship between housing location, ...
Natural antimicrobial drugs found in pollen could help us protect bee colonies from infection
2025-09-30
A honeybee hive, with its large stores of pollen, wax, and honey, is like a fortress guarding treasure: with strong defenses, but a bonanza for enemies that can overcome those. More than 30 parasites of honeybees are known, spanning protists, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and arthropods – and this number keeps growing. As a result, beekeepers are always on the lookout for new ways to protect their precious hives.
A team of researchers from the US suspected that a rich new source of ecofriendly treatments for bee diseases might be hiding ...
Why mamba snake bites worsen after antivenom
2025-09-30
A breakthrough study at The University of Queensland has discovered a hidden dangerous feature in the Black Mamba one of the most venomous snakes in the world.
Professor Bryan Fry from UQ’s School of the Environment said the study revealed the venoms of three species of mamba were far more neurologically complex than previously thought, explaining why antivenoms were sometimes ineffective.
“The Black Mamba, Western Green Mamba and Jamesons Mamba snakes aren’t just using one form of chemical weapon, they’re launching a coordinated attack at 2 different points in the nervous system,” Professor Fry said.
“If you’re bitten by 3 out of ...
Biogas slurry boosts biochar’s climate benefits by reshaping soil microbes
2025-09-30
Adding biochar to farmland soils is widely promoted as a climate-friendly practice, but its impact on greenhouse gas emissions can vary. A new study finds that pairing biochar with biogas slurry, a nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer from biogas production, can reshape soil microbial communities and significantly alter emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and methane (CH₄).
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences conducted controlled soil column experiments to test how different levels of biochar addition perform ...
New review warns of growing heavy metal threats in reservoirs, calls for smarter monitoring and greener cleanup solutions
2025-09-30
Reservoirs are lifelines for drinking water, food production, and economic growth. But a new study warns that these crucial ecosystems are increasingly under threat from toxic heavy metals—and that urgent, innovative action is needed to safeguard both human health and the environment.
Researchers from Northeast Agricultural University, together with international collaborators, have published the most comprehensive review to date of heavy metal pollution in reservoirs, outlining its sources, risks, and promising solutions. The findings, published in Agricultural Ecology and Environment, ...