TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychedelic 5-HT2A agonist increases spontaneous and evoked 5-Hz oscillations in visual and retrosplenial cortex
AU - White, Callum M.
AU - Azimi, Zohre
AU - Staadt, Robert
AU - Song, Chenchen
AU - Knöpfel, Thomas
AU - Jancke, Dirk
N1 - Acknowledgements:
We thank Stefan Dobers and Henning Knoop and the RUB mechanical shop for technical support. This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) grants: Project ID 122679504 - SFB 874, D.J.; JA 945/5-1, D.J.; “MoNN&Di”, Project number 492434978 - GRK 2862/1, Subproject 10, D.J.; BMBF, ERA-Net Neuron “Horizon 2020”, 01EW2104B, D.J.; US National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative Grant (5U01NS099573), T.K.; Lee Kuan Yew Postdoctoral Fellowship administered by Nanyang Technological University Singapore (022506-00001), C.S.; Open Fund Young Individual Research Grant (MOH-001720) administered by the Singapore Ministry of Health’s National Medical Research Council, C.S.
PY - 2026/1/12
Y1 - 2026/1/12
N2 - Visual perception appears largely stable in time. However, psychophysical studies have revealed that low frequency (0.5 – 7 Hz) oscillatory dynamics can modulate perception and have been linked to various cognitive states and functions. Neither the contribution of waves around 5 Hz (theta or alpha-like) to cortical activity nor their impact during aberrant brain states have been resolved at high spatiotemporal scales. Here, using cortex-wide population voltage imaging in awake mice, we found that bouts of 5-Hz oscillations in the visual cortex are accompanied by similar oscillations in the retrosplenial cortex, occurring both spontaneously and evoked by visual stimulation. Injection of psychotropic 5-HT2AR agonist induced a significant increase in spontaneous 5-Hz oscillations, and also increased the power, occurrence probability and temporal persistence of visually evoked 5-Hz oscillations. This modulation of 5-Hz oscillations in both cortical areas indicates a strengthening of top-down control of perception, supporting an underlying mechanism of perceptual filling and visual hallucinations. (Figure presented.)
AB - Visual perception appears largely stable in time. However, psychophysical studies have revealed that low frequency (0.5 – 7 Hz) oscillatory dynamics can modulate perception and have been linked to various cognitive states and functions. Neither the contribution of waves around 5 Hz (theta or alpha-like) to cortical activity nor their impact during aberrant brain states have been resolved at high spatiotemporal scales. Here, using cortex-wide population voltage imaging in awake mice, we found that bouts of 5-Hz oscillations in the visual cortex are accompanied by similar oscillations in the retrosplenial cortex, occurring both spontaneously and evoked by visual stimulation. Injection of psychotropic 5-HT2AR agonist induced a significant increase in spontaneous 5-Hz oscillations, and also increased the power, occurrence probability and temporal persistence of visually evoked 5-Hz oscillations. This modulation of 5-Hz oscillations in both cortical areas indicates a strengthening of top-down control of perception, supporting an underlying mechanism of perceptual filling and visual hallucinations. (Figure presented.)
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105029717591
U2 - 10.1038/s42003-025-09492-9
DO - 10.1038/s42003-025-09492-9
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 40631162
SN - 2399-3642
VL - 9
JO - Communications Biology
JF - Communications Biology
IS - 1
M1 - 216
ER -