Sex-specific outcomes of developmental stress and psilocybin intervention on the brain and behavior
Universitätsbibliothek der LMU July 9, 2026 Sowmya Narayan
Exposure to stress during brain development is a known risk factor for adult mental illness, which often differs by sex and responds poorly to current treatments. Using a mouse model, this work examined how early-life stress alters the adult brain across multiple levels—transcriptomics, network connectivity, resting-state activity, and behavior—and tested whether the psychedelic psilocybin could reverse these effects. Many adulthood differences caused by developmental stress were distinct and even opposing between sexes, driven by changes in processes active during neurodevelopment. Psilocybin broadly shifted behavior in a direction opposite to the effects of developmental stress, but through different behavioral domains in males and females. The findings highlight the need to consider sex as a biological variable and to improve translational validity in preclinical research.