This research tests whether psychedelics improve adaptability in mice. After learning reward rules, mice with a single psychedelic treatment relearned new rules faster and used more information—learning not only from rewards but also from missed rewards. The findings suggest psychedelics enhance behavioral flexibility, offering clues for developing future mental health treatments.

This research uncovers how two proteins, GluA1 and PKC, regulate behavioural flexibility in the striatum. Deleting GluA1 causes animals to get “stuck,” mirroring symptoms in OCD, addiction, and autism. A new molecular tool restores flexibility by 80% in hours, offering a potential pathway for future neuropsychiatric treatments.