Scott Thompson
Professor, Department of Psychiatry University of Colorado School of Medicine
Seminars
Thursday 17th September 2026
Panel Discussion: To What Degree Does Neuroplasticity Underpin Psychedelic Efficacy?
9:15 am
- Examining the evidence linking psychedelic induced synaptic and dendritic remodeling with changes in mood, cognition and emotional processing
- Exploring whether neuroplasticity is a mechanistic driver of efficacy or a downstream accompaniment to broader network level changes
- Comparing plasticity linked biomarkers, such as EEG signatures, sleep architecture shifts and neurotrophic factor changes, to determine which most reliably map onto clinical response
- Debating how much neuroplasticity is necessary, sufficient or even predictive for therapeutic benefit across different psychedelic and non psychedelic compounds
- Considering maladaptive behaviors underpinned by neuroplasticity in the brain
- How might we treat “neuroplastogens” differently: as a separate class
Thursday 17th September 2026
Panel Discussion: Ketamine & Rapid Acting Antidepressants: Plasticity, Metabolites & the Next Generation of Therapeutic Innovation
10:30 am
- What emerging preclinical and clinical data reveal about ketamine induced synaptic plasticity as a unifying mechanism for rapid antidepressant effects
- The role of ketamine metabolites, including HNKs, in disentangling efficacy from dissociation and informing more targeted drug design
- Progress toward non dissociative and next generation ketamine derived therapies, and how these may reshape safety, scalability, and patient access
- Lessons from S-ketamine on regulatory pathways, payer expectations, and commercial adoption; and what this means for the broader psychedelic and rapid acting psychiatry landscape
Thursday 17th September 2026
From Neuroplasticity to Symptom Relief: Converging Mechanisms Driving Durable Therapeutic Benefit
1:00 pm
- Examining how neuroplastic changes translate into meaningful clinical improvement across depression and related disorders
- Understanding disease related circuit pathology and how targeted therapeutics can repair dysfunctional synapses and circuits
- Comparing neuroplasticity signatures across ketamine, psychedelics, and emerging agents to identify shared mechanistic pathways
- Bridging the gap between molecular plasticity findings and the encoding of lasting therapeutic effects
