Evidence mapPaperPMID 42528876Full record

ReviewFrontiers in psychiatry2026

Sex-dependent effects of psychedelics: review of evidence from rodent models.

Rafał Marecki, Wiktoria Zaniewska, Adam Hamed, Napoleon Waszkiewicz, Jacob J Baker, Kacper Łukasiewicz

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Rafał Marecki *Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Białystok, Białystok, Poland.
Wiktoria Zaniewska *Laboratory of Spatial Memory, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland.
Adam HamedLaboratory of Spatial Memory, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland.
Napoleon WaszkiewiczDepartment of Psychiatry, Medical University of Białystok, Białystok, Poland.
Jacob J BakerDepartment of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States.
Kacper ŁukasiewiczDepartment of Psychiatry, Medical University of Białystok, Białystok, Poland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Classic psychedelics, including psilocybin, LSD, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, mescaline, and phenethylamines such as DOI, exert their core effects through 5-HT2A receptor agonism, inducing widespread neurobiological and behavioral changes relevant to psychiatric research. Emerging evidence suggests that these effects are modulated by sex, yet this dimension remains underrepresented in studies. This review synthesizes findings from rodent research to examine sex-dependent variability across pharmacokinetics, physiology, neuroplasticity, behavior, and disease models. Notable sex differences appear in pharmacodynamics and neurobiological responses, such as divergent serotonergic and dopaminergic signaling patterns, sex specific central amygdala reactivity to psilocin, and differential patterns of dendritic spine formation following psilocybin administration. Behavioral outcomes - including head twitch responses, locomotor activity, prepulse inhibition, stress reactivity, and social behavior - frequently show stronger or qualitatively distinct effects in females than in males, with ovarian cycle phase further modulating several responses. Disease model studies similarly reveal divergent therapeutic or adverse outcomes, such as sex dependent effects of psilocybin on alcohol consumption and of DMT microdosing on affective behavior and neuroplasticity. Collectively, the evidence demonstrates that sex is a critical biological variable shaping the neural, physiological, and behavioral effects of psychedelics in rodents. Integrating sex specific analyses into experimental design is essential for improving translational validity and guiding clinical applications that account for biological differences in treatment response.

Indexed as

5-HT2Adimethyltryptamine (DMT)lysergic acid diethylamidepsilocybinpsychedelicrodentssex differences

Identifiers

PMID42528876
PMCPMC13415512

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.