Possible psychedelic therapeutic mechanism.

Psychedelics can activate serotonin receptors located inside cells, a site that serotonin itself cannot reach. This intracellular action may explain why psychedelics produce profound and lasting changes in brain function and behavior, distinct from the effects of the body's own serotonin.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Psychedelics act on intracellular serotonin receptors that are not accessible by serotonin alone.