Serotonin biology as a basis for explaining psychedelic drug action.
Abstract
Psychedelics exert their effects primarily through the serotonergic system. Like the endogenous neuromodulator, the drugs bind to many serotonin receptor subtypes. However, their receptor selectivity profiles and spatiotemporal patterns of action differ from those of serotonin and vary across compounds. In this review, we summarize studies that have established roles for serotonin in three domains: reward learning, visual processing, and cerebrovascular function. We contrast the neurophysiological and behavioral consequences of endogenous serotonin release with those produced by exogenous psychedelic administration. We propose that several major effects of psychedelics can be understood as perturbations to serotonergic signaling, while also noting some drug actions that remain difficult to explain by existing serotonin biology. Viewing psychedelic drug action through the lens of serotonin provides a mechanistic framework for linking molecular pharmacology to circuit dynamics and behavior.
Topics & conditions
Detected automatically by Psychedelic Commons from the title and abstract, not labels from the source. They may be incomplete.
Psychedelic Commons aggregates metadata from open sources and links back to the original. Rights remain with the authors and publishers. Something wrong with this record? Report a problem.