Authors:

Adele Bauer

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About Paper:

Psychedelics have shown great promise in the treatment of mental health conditions such as treatment resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorder. However, the mode of action of these drugs is largely unknown. Genetically tractable model organisms are particularly advantageous for identifying the genetic pathways involved in drug responses. We characterized the behavioral effects of a psychedelic in one such organism, the nematode worm C. elegans. We began by creating a toxicity dose response curve that compared survival 24 hours after drug exposure to the concentration of drug using the psychedelic drug 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI) or the control buffer solution (M9). The data revealed that DOI does have toxic effects at higher concentrations. After determining the minimal toxic dose, we examined the effects of DOI on a behavior type. One critical behavior of C. elegans is egg-laying, which is regulated by serotonin and its corresponding receptors. Psychedelics have a particularly high affinity for serotonin receptors. We hypothesized that a psychedelic drug would have the same stimulating effect on egg-laying as serotonin (5-HT). As expected, we found that 5-HT-incubated animals laid more eggs than the control. Surprisingly, animals incubated in DOI laid eggs at a similar rate to those incubated in the buffer solution. These results indicate that DOI does not stimulate egg-laying behavior significantly at any concentration. 90 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON • 2025 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM TABLE OF CONTENTS

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University of Oregon / 2025

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Co-authors:

Adele Bauer