Hallucinogens and Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor-Mediated Signaling Pathways
Current topics in behavioral neurosciences January 1, 2017 Juan F. López‐giménez, Javier González‐maeso 302 citations
Hallucinogens such as mescaline, psilocybin, and LSD profoundly alter consciousness, emotion, and cognition. Their discovery, particularly LSD's similarity to serotonin, suggested that biogenic amines like serotonin are involved in mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Although hallucinogens bind to multiple G protein-coupled receptor subtypes, their key effects involve agonist activity at the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor. This chapter reviews recent advances in understanding hallucinogen action by characterizing the structure, neuroanatomical location, and function of the 5-HT2A receptor.