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. 2023 Feb 17;379(6633):642-643.
doi: 10.1126/science.adg2989. Epub 2023 Feb 16.

Possible psychedelic therapeutic mechanism

Evan M Hess  1 , Todd D Gould  1   2   3   4
Affiliations

Possible psychedelic therapeutic mechanism

Evan M Hess et al. Science. .

Abstract

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

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Figures

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Psychedelics activate intracellular signalling
Serotonin readily activates 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A receptors (5-HT2ARs) on the cell membrane, but its unmethylated amino group (red) restricts its membrane permeability. This functional group is methylated (red) In classical psychedelics such as N,N-dimethyltryptamlne (DMT) and psllocln (produced from psilocybin), which increases membrane permeability. Activation of Intracellular 5-HT2ARs by these psychedelics leads to sustained Increases In dendrite growth and spine density. Credit to A. Mastin/Science.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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