NCMD Research Seminar Series 28th November 2025

Presenter: Dr Marco Bocchio, Assistant Professor, Dept of Psychology Durham University

Presentation: Preclinical and observational perspectives on psychedelics, serotonin, neuroplasticity and mental health.

The serotonin system plays a central role in the treatment of psychiatric conditions such as major depression and anxiety disorders. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) remain the most widely prescribed antidepressants and are also used as anxiolytics, yet treatment resistance is common, affecting around one in three patients with depression. Recently, psychedelics have generated excitement in psychiatry, showing promise for
treatment-resistant depression in clinical trials.

The therapeutic potential of serotonergic compounds, including psychedelics, is often attributed to their effects on neuroplasticity. However, the precise forms of plasticity they induce, and the mechanisms by which these changes support recovery, remain unclear. Evidence for their efficacy in anxiety disorders is particularly sparse, despite encouraging preliminary findings. It is also generally assumed that a controlled clinical setting is
necessary to sustain long-term benefits of psychedelics, whereas recreational use carries greater risks, though such distinctions are based largely on anecdotal reports.

In this talk, I will present ongoing preclinical work in mice examining how physiological serotonin release and psychedelics modulate brain circuits underlying emotional behaviour, with a focus on neuroplasticity. I will also share observational findings from naturalistic psychedelics use, highlighting contrasting effects of classic versus non-classic psychedelics on depression and anxiety, and how these outcomes vary across age groups.

Dr Marco Bocchio graduated in Biotechnology (BSc, 2008) and Neurobiology (MSc, 2011) at the University of Pavia. He completed his DPhil in Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the University of Oxford in 2016, investigating the organisation and plasticity of amygdala circuits, their modulation by serotonin, and their role in aversive learning, followed by postdoctoral work (still at Oxford) on neuromodulation in live human cortical
tissue. He then undertook further postdoctoral research at the Mediterranean Institute of Neurobiology at Aix-Marseille University, studying how hippocampal function is shaped by developmental programmes and inhibitory neurons, and later at Newcastle University using closed-loop optical and electrophysiological approaches to correct pathological network dynamics in epilepsy. Since 2022, he has been Assistant Professor at Durham University, where his research focuses on how serotonin and psychedelics influence neuroplasticity, emotional circuits and mental health, combining preclinical neuroscience with quantitative and qualitative psychological approaches.
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