New method tracks how psychedelics affect neurons in minutes

Psychedelics research gets a new neuroscience tool: CaST (Ca2+-activated Split-TurboID) for tagging neurons and biochemicals activated in the brain within minutes. UC Davis researchers developed CaST as a rapid, noninvasive way to mark cells based on intracellular calcium activity. In mice, they used the method alongside psilocybin dosing to identify neurons with increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, while also measuring head-twitch responses as a behavioral correlate of psychedelic effects. CaST uses biotin tagging to enable a “camera snapshot” of activated brain regions and is faster than older tagging approaches (about 10 to 30 minutes). The work aims to map step-by-step molecular signaling behind psychedelic-induced neuroplasticity and support better mechanism-focused design of psychedelic or psychedelic-inspired treatments with fewer side effects.