The Emerging Neurobiology of Psychedelics: Critical Periods, Metaplasticity, and Extracellular Matrix Remodeling.
Annual review of neuroscience July 1, 2026 Gül Dölen, Makenzie L Wilkinson
Psychedelics reopen critical periods, induce metaplasticity, and reorganize the extracellular matrix, which helps explain their diverse, durable, and context-dependent therapeutic effects. This neurobiological evidence challenges the biochemical imbalance model that has dominated translational neuroscience since the 1950s and supports a learning model that better accounts for psychedelics' unique therapeutic profile.