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Gerard J. Marek

12 papers in the library · 928 citations · publishing 1989-2026

Papers

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No evidence for direct physical interaction of 5-HT 2A -mGluR2 receptors in vitro or in vivo

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) June 30, 2026 Blake A Fordyce, Yi-Ting Chiu, Nicholas A. Wright et al. preprint

Abstract Activation of mGluR2 (metabotropic glutamate receptor 2), the primary presynaptic autoreceptor for glutamate in the brain, is well established to attenuate the psychedelics-mediated behavioral and electrophysiological effects. However, the mechanisms responsible for these actions are controversial. The two competing mechanistic hypotheses have been proposed to explain this phenomenon...

DOI: 10.64898/2026.06.28.734515 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Metabotropic glutamate receptor Autoreceptor Metabotropic receptor Agonist +8

A novel psychedelic 5-HT 2A receptor agonist GM-2505: The pharmacokinetic, safety, and pharmacodynamic profile from a randomized trial healthy volunteer

Journal of Psychopharmacology October 16, 2025 Gerard J. Marek, Soma Makai‐bölöni, Daniel Umbricht et al. 2 citations

Background: The treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) with available antidepressant drugs is characterized by considerable ineffectiveness. Classical psychedelics such as psilocybin and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which act primarily as 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A (5-HT 2A ) receptor agonists, have shown preliminary efficacy for inducing long-term remission in MDD after one or two doses....

Metabotropic Glutamate2 Receptors Play a Key Role in Modulating Head Twitches Induced by a Serotonergic Hallucinogen in Mice

Frontiers in Pharmacology March 15, 2018 Mark J. Benvenga, Stephen F. Chaney, Melvyn Baez et al. 26 citations

There is substantial evidence that glutamate can modulate the effects of 5-hydroxytryptamine2A (5-HT2A) receptor activation through stimulation of metabotropic glutamate 2/3 (mGlu2/3) receptors in the prefrontal cortex. Here we show that constitutive deletion of the mGlu2 gene profoundly attenuates an effect of 5-HT2A receptor activation using the mouse head twitch response (HTR). MGlu2 and...

β2-Adrenergic Receptor Activation Suppresses the Rat Phenethylamine Hallucinogen-Induced Head Twitch Response: Hallucinogen-Induced Excitatory Post-synaptic Potentials as a Potential Substrate.

Frontiers in Pharmacology February 8, 2018 Gerard J. Marek, Brian P Ramos

5-Hydroxytryptamine2A (5-HT2A) receptors are enriched in layers I and Va of the rat prefrontal cortex and neocortex and their activation increases the frequency of glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic potentials/currents (EPSP/Cs) onto layer V pyramidal cells. A number of other G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are also enriched in cortical layers I and Va and either induce (1-adrenergic...

DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00089 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Epinephrine Clenbuterol Ici-118,551 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine doi

Default-mode-like network activation in awake rodents.

PLoS One 2011 Jaymin Upadhyay, Scott J Baker, Prasant Chandran et al.

During wakefulness and in absence of performing tasks or sensory processing, the default-mode network (DMN), an intrinsic central nervous system (CNS) network, is in an active state. Non-human primate and human CNS imaging studies have identified the DMN in these two species. Clinical imaging studies have shown that the pattern of activity within the DMN is often modulated in various disease...

Serotonin model of schizophrenia: emerging role of glutamate mechanisms.

Brain research. Brain research reviews March 2000 George K. Aghajanian, Gerard J. Marek

The serotonin (5-HT) hypothesis of schizophrenia arose from early studies on interactions between the hallucinogenic drug LSD (D-lysergic acid diethylamide) and 5-HT in peripheral systems. More recent studies have shown that the two major classes of psychedelic hallucinogens, the indoleamines (e.g., LSD) and phenethylamines (e.g. , mescaline), produce their central effects through a common...

Serotonin and hallucinogens.

Neuropsychopharmacology August 1999 George K. Aghajanian, Gerard J. Marek

This brief review traces the serotonin (5-HT) hypothesis of the action of hallucinogenic drugs from the early 1950s to the present day. There is now converging evidence from biochemical, electrophysiological, and behavioral studies that the two major classes of psychedelic hallucinogens, the indoleamines (e.g., LSD) and the phenethylamines (e.g., mescaline), have a common site of action as...

Serotonin, via 5-HT2A receptors, increases EPSCs in layer V pyramidal cells of prefrontal cortex by an asynchronous mode of glutamate release

Brain Research April 1, 1999 George K. Aghajanian, Gerard J. Marek 379 citations

Previously, serotonin (5-HT) was found to induce a marked increase in glutamatergic spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) in apical dendrites of layer V pyramidal cells of prefrontal cortex; this effect was mediated by 5-HT2A receptors, a proposed site of action of hallucinogenic and atypical antipsychotic drugs. Unexpectedly, although the effect of 5-HT was Ca2+-dependent and...

DOI: 10.1016/s0006-8993(99)01224-x (opens in new tab) Excitatory postsynaptic potential Glutamatergic Neurotransmission Inhibitory postsynaptic potential +2

Indoleamine and the phenethylamine hallucinogens: mechanisms of psychotomimetic action

Drug and Alcohol Dependence June 1, 1998 Gerard J. Marek, George K. Aghajanian 39 citations

The psychedelic hallucinogens are comprised of three different groups of compounds according to Ž . Ž . their chemical structure Fig. 1 : 1 the ergolines Ž which contain an indole moiety e.g. lysergic acid . Ž . diethylamide, LSD ; 2 simple indoleamine hallucinoŽ gens e.g. N,N-dimethyltryptamine, DMT and psilocy. bin which share an indoleamine structure with the Ž endogenous neurotransmitter...

5-HT2AReceptor-Mediated Regulation of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor mRNA in the Hippocampus and the Neocortex

Journal of Neuroscience April 15, 1997 Vidita A Vaidya, Gerard J. Marek, George K. Aghajanian et al. 482 citations

The influence of 5-HT receptor agonists on the expression of BDNF in brain was determined. Administration of a hallucinogenic 5-HT2A /2C receptor agonist, but not a 5-HT1A receptor agonist, resulted in a significant but differential regulation of BDNF mRNA levels in hippocampus and neocortex. In the hippocampus, the 5-HT2A /2C receptor agonist significantly decreased BDNF mRNA expression in the...

DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.17-08-02785.1997 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Neocortex Hippocampus Brain-derived neurotrophic factor Neurotrophic factors +2

LSD and the phenethylamine hallucinogen DOI are potent partial agonists at 5-HT2A receptors on interneurons in rat piriform cortex.

Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics September 1, 1996 Gerard J. Marek, George K. Aghajanian

Correlations between 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptor binding affinities and human hallucinogenic potency have suggested that 5-HT2 receptors mediate the hallucinogenic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and phenethylamine hallucinogens. Electrophysiological studies have suggested that a subpopulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic interneurons in layer III of the rat...

Long-term central 5-HT depletions resulting from repeated administration of MDMA enhances the effects of single administration of MDMA on schedule-controlled behavior of rats.

Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior July 1989 A A Li, Gerard J. Marek, Georgetta Vosmer et al.

The behavioral effect of single administration of +/- 3,4-methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on rats performing on the differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate 72-second schedule (DRL 72-sec) was compared before and after a period of repeated administration of MDMA known to deplete 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels in the brain. Single administration of MDMA decreased reinforcement rate (1, 2,...