Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Feb 1;53(3):439-52.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2007.01.008.

Hallucinogens recruit specific cortical 5-HT(2A) receptor-mediated signaling pathways to affect behavior

Javier González-Maeso  1 , Noelia V Weisstaub, Mingming Zhou, Pokman Chan, Lidija Ivic, Rosalind Ang, Alena Lira, Maria Bradley-Moore, Yongchao Ge, Qiang Zhou, Stuart C Sealfon, Jay A Gingrich
Affiliations
Free article

Hallucinogens recruit specific cortical 5-HT(2A) receptor-mediated signaling pathways to affect behavior

Javier González-Maeso et al. Neuron. .
Free article

Abstract

Hallucinogens, including mescaline, psilocybin, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), profoundly affect perception, cognition, and mood. All known drugs of this class are 5-HT(2A) receptor (2AR) agonists, yet closely related 2AR agonists such as lisuride lack comparable psychoactive properties. Why only certain 2AR agonists are hallucinogens and which neural circuits mediate their effects are poorly understood. By genetically expressing 2AR only in cortex, we show that 2AR-regulated pathways on cortical neurons are sufficient to mediate the signaling pattern and behavioral response to hallucinogens. Hallucinogenic and nonhallucinogenic 2AR agonists both regulate signaling in the same 2AR-expressing cortical neurons. However, the signaling and behavioral responses to the hallucinogens are distinct. While lisuride and LSD both act at 2AR expressed by cortex neurons to regulate phospholipase C, LSD responses also involve pertussis toxin-sensitive heterotrimeric G(i/o) proteins and Src. These studies identify the long-elusive neural and signaling mechanisms responsible for the unique effects of hallucinogens.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources