One of the oldest psychedelics meets modern brain imaging - Northeastern Global News

What the report says

Northeastern Global News reports that researchers at Northeastern University are using modern brain imaging to study mescaline, a naturally occurring psychedelic found in cacti such as peyote. The work was conducted by doctoral student Noah Cavallaro with professor Craig Ferris, who leads Northeastern’s Center for Translational Neuroimaging and specializes in psychology and pharmaceutical sciences. The study appeared in the May edition of Neuroscience Bulletin.

According to the university report, the team used MRI imaging and lab tests in awake rodents to examine how mescaline affects brain activity and sensory processing. The researchers found that the drug produced hyperconnectivity among brain regions, a pattern also observed in their work with LSD and psilocybin. However, mescaline also appeared to reduce activity within the cerebellum while increasing its communication with other parts of the brain.

The cerebellum is commonly associated with motor control, but the researchers emphasized its role in filtering sensory information. In behavioral tests, rodents given mescaline did not respond normally to a rewarding smell and showed selective disruption in responses to repeated sounds at certain frequencies. Cavallaro and Ferris suggested this points to a selective filtering effect rather than a total shutdown of cerebellar function.

The findings matter because mescaline can produce hallucinations and altered perception, and the researchers say some sensory-processing patterns resemble features seen in certain psychiatric conditions. Northeastern reported that the next research step is to study how different doses affect brain activity and to consider how the work might eventually translate beyond rodent models.