ReviewThe behavioral pharmacology of hallucinogens
Introduction
Although drugs producing sensory distortions have been used by man for several millennia, many consider the modern era of psychedelics to have begun when the psychotropic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD, Fig. 1C) were discovered by Albert Hofmann in 1943 [1]. This discovery ushered in an era of intense LSD research, with nearly 1000 articles appearing in the medical literature by 1961 [2]. Most of this early research was based upon the drug's capacity to produce a “model psychosis”[3] although there are significant differences between LSD-induced and endogenously occurring psychotic behaviors [4]. By the mid-1960s, LSD and other related drugs had become associated with various counterculture movements, depicted as dangerous, and widely popularized as drugs of abuse. Accordingly, scientific interest in these drugs faded by the late 1960s, but human research with related psychedelics has recently experienced a slight renaissance [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13].
The term “hallucinogen” has come to describe LSD and related compounds based on the supposition that these drugs elicit hallucinations, but it has been argued that, at the doses commonly taken recreationally, frank hallucinations are produced only rarely [14]. Nevertheless, other designations for this class of drugs (for example, psychedelics, psychotomimetics, entheogens, etc.) have not necessarily caught on, and so we will use the term hallucinogen to refer to these compounds, despite the controversy surrounding the appropriateness of this appellation. As a drug category, hallucinogens are typically accepted to encompass an enormous range of pharmacological substances, with mechanisms of action ranging from cannabinoid agonism (i.e., Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol), N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonism (i.e., phencyclidine), muscarinic receptor antagonism (i.e., scopolamine), κ opioid agonism (i.e., salvinorin A), mixed action monoamine release (i.e., 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine [MDMA]), and more. Thus, within the confines of this review, we will use the term hallucinogen to denote compounds with pharmacological effects similar to three prototypical drugs: 3,4,5-trimethoxy-phenethylamine (mescaline, Fig. 1A), N,N-dimethyl-4-phosphoryloxytryptamine (psilocybin, Fig. 1B) and LSD (Fig. 1C). All of these drugs function as agonists at 5-HT2A receptors, and much work has culminated in the widespread acceptance that this particular receptor initiates the molecular mechanisms responsible for the unique effects of these compounds. Much of that work will be reviewed herein.
The aim of this review is to mark the sea change which seems to be occurring within the field of hallucinogen research. Until very recently, comparatively few scientists were studying these particular compounds, perhaps due to their unfortunate association with somewhat less than rigorous research techniques. In Nichols’ recent review [14], for example, prominent clinicians are quoted as stating that the effects of hallucinogens transcend pharmacology, are unpredictable, and border on the mystical. Nevertheless, the state of hallucinogen research is now approaching something of a high water mark. Selective antagonists are available for relevant serotonergic receptors, the majority of which have now been cloned, allowing for reasonably thorough pharmacological investigation. Animal models sensitive to hallucinogen-like effects have been established and exploited to yield a wealth of largely concordant data. Along similar lines, sophisticated genetic techniques have enabled the development of mutant mice, which have proven useful in the study of hallucinogens. Finally, the capacity to study post-receptor signaling events has lead to the proposal of a plausible mechanism of action for these compounds. The tools currently available to study the hallucinogens are thus more plentiful and scientifically advanced than were those accessible to earlier researchers studying the opioids, benzodiazepines, cholinergics, or other centrally active compounds. Those interested in hallucinogen research should thus be encouraged by all of these recent developments, and it is hoped that the perceived “scientific respectability” of the field will continue to increase.
Section snippets
Drug discrimination
Given the profound effects of hallucinogens on perception and other subjective variables, an animal model capable of assessing mechanisms of action of these drugs that informs their subjective effects in man would be especially useful. The main methodology presently employed in this regard is drug discrimination. In a typical discrimination task, an animal is trained to emit one response during experimental sessions initiated by the administration of a particular drug (the “training drug”), and
Serotonin receptors and hallucinogen neuropharmacology
Pharmacologists currently recognize seven different serotonin (5-HT) receptors and 14 different subtypes. The current classification scheme was derived from the explosion of knowledge acquired during the molecular biology revolution of the 1980s and 1990s, as newly developed techniques allowed for the determination of sequence homology, leading to a more accurate characterization of new receptor subtypes and the re-classification of some previously known receptors. Although this work was
Glutamatergic and dopaminergic involvement in hallucinogen neuropharmacology
Stimulation of 5-HT2A receptors in brain regions relevant to hallucinogen action is typically associated with an increase in spontaneous glutamate-mediated synaptic activity [79], [80], [81], [82], [83], [84]. These findings and others suggest that 5-HT2A receptors may modulate the excitability of specific neural systems, but theories of 5-HT/glutamate (GLU) interactions remain incomplete due to the lack of a plausible mechanistic account for this effect. Multiple such mechanistic explanations
Chemical classes of hallucinogens
There are two main chemical classes of hallucinogens, based upon either phenethylamine (mescaline-like) or tryptamine (psilocybin-like) backbones. LSD and a few interesting analogues represent elaborated, conformationally restrained tryptamines, and are commonly referred to as ergolines. Here we dedicate a separate section to LSD and its purportedly non-hallucinogenic analogue lisuride. The behavioral pharmacology of these drugs will be described in the sections below, paying particular
Summary and conclusions
Current methods in behavioral pharmacology and neuroscience are finally beginning to chip away at the mystical façade that has defined the hallucinogens for too long. With the identification of exploitable SAR for these compounds, hypothesis-driven chemical syntheses have allowed the development of homologous compounds with specific binding at relevant 5-HT receptors. Study of the effects of these drugs on conditioned (drug discrimination) and unconditioned (HTR) behaviors have enabled
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Sasha and Ann Shulgin for inspiration in the writing of this review, and acknowledge the generous funding provided by USPHS Grant DA020645 and by the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.
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2021, Cell ReportsCitation Excerpt :Our study helps to understand how neural activity changes during the HT behavior. HT is believed to be a behavioral signature of a brain state similar to hallucination in humans, because the 5HT2AR agonists that are hallucinogenic in humans also evoke HT in rodents, whereas those 5HT2AR agonists that are non-hallucinogenic in humans do not evoke HT (Fantegrossi et al., 2008; González-Maeso et al., 2007). Our analysis indicates a temporary increase in the firing rates of CA1 and VC cells when HT occurred, despite the overall reduction in the firing rates in POST under LSD.