Before we get to today’s update, we wanted to share with you some exciting news about one of our portfolio companies, Psilera.

Psilera, which is focused on a psilocybin-based treatment for Frontotemporal Dementia (with its lead candidate PSIL-006), recently landed a licensing deal with atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ: ATAI), whereby atai has acquired Psilera’s DMT patent portfolio. This is a big deal, to be sure.

 Here’s Psilera CEO Dr. Chris Witowski had to say about the deal…

"We're pleased to collaborate with atai on the DMT patent portfolio given their leadership in psychedelic drug development. This outcome helps us to advance the clinical development of our lead asset PSIL-006 in frontotemporal dementia and our leading next-generation neuroplastogen pipeline."

Since its founding, Psilera has developed and patented several DMT-specific formulations with optimized bioavailability for clinical and outpatient use across a broad range of neurological indications. 

Under the terms of the Agreement, Psilera will receive an upfront payment, and, assuming certain conditions are met, will be eligible for payments related to future development milestones, as well as royalties on commercial product sales.

Psilera will continue to expand its pipeline of novel neuroplastogen compounds while advancing PSIL-006 to the clinic for first-in-human trials expected in 2026.

Now let’s get to today’s update…

A new study was published in The Journal of Neuroscience, suggesting that relieving psychological stress by targeting specific neurons in the brain can lower blood pressure and reduce anxiety.

There's long been an identifiable link between stressful life events and the development of high blood pressure and heart disease. So the authors of this study decided to test whether activating certain brain cells with special proteins known as angiotensin type 2 receptors (AT2R) in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) would affect blood pressure and anxiety levels. To clarify, the CeA is a region of the brain linked to emotions. 

They used a technique called optogenetics, which involves using light-sensitive proteins to control neuron activity with light.

Their findings revealed that stimulating AT2R neurons in the CeA not only lowered blood pressure but also reduced anxiety in mice. Additionally, giving a drug that targets AT2R produced the same effect, highlighting the potential for new treatments for stress-related high blood pressure and anxiety disorders. Check it out: https://www.jneurosci.org/content/45/12/e1482242025

Researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) published a new study revealing how the brain reprocesses and refines memories during sleep, particularly those related to spatial learning. 

They tracked rats’ hippocampal neuron activity for up to 20 hours and found that memory patterns first echoed the learning phase and then gradually shifted to match the recollection phase upon waking.

This reorganization, observed during non-REM sleep, involved a dynamic change in the neurons representing reward locations. Some stopped firing while others became active. These changes not only reinforced the memory but may have also freed up neurons for storing new information. 

Based on their research, authors of the study suggest that it’s possible that memory representations must be formed quickly during learning but that such representations are not optimal for long-term storage. Therefore, a process may take place in sleep that optimizes these representations to reduce brain resources to store a specific memory.  Here’s more https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(25)00167-9?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0896627325001679%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

A new study in the journal Nature was published suggesting that long-term high-fat diets reduce pleasure from eating by lowering neurotensin. This is a brain peptide that boosts dopamine response. This loss of reward dampens the desire for high-calorie foods, potentially worsening obesity by promoting habitual, joyless eating.

Researchers found that in mice, restoring neurotensin levels reversed this effect, improving weight control and eating behavior. These findings highlight a brain mechanism behind obesity and open new avenues for targeted treatments.  Check it out: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08748-y

‍

Did you know that unmarried people may have a lower risk of dementia than those who are married? This, according to a study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, which found that all unmarried groups in the study’s sample had less dementia risk than married adults. They also identified a lower risk of progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.

Contrary to expectations and challenging the commonly held belief that marriage is protective against cognitive decline and dementia, this study found that married older adults exhibited a higher risk of dementia compared to those never married, divorced, and widowed.

This finding can change the way we understand the connection between marital status and risk of dementia.  Previous work has emphasized the benefits of marriage. However, married individuals may have a smaller social network, tend to be less self-reliant, and may experience stressful conditions such as caregiving, which could contribute to the risk of dementia. Here’s more: https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.70072