Brain mechanisms of hallucinogens and entactogens
Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience December 31, 2001 DOI: 10.31887/dcns.2001.3.4/fxvollenweider (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Humans and rats |
| Topics | MDMA Mescaline Psilocybin Serotonin |
| Keywords | Hallucinogen Psychotomimetic Thalamus Amygdala Sensory gating Prefrontal cortex |
| Citations | 127 |
| Key findings | Classic hallucinogens and dissociative anesthetics produce overlapping psychotic syndromes and disrupt sensory gating via a common pathway involving cortico-striato-thalamic circuitry, while MDMA produces a distinct emotional state with different brain activation patterns. |
Abstract
This review focuses on recent brain imaging and behavioral studies of sensory gating functions, which assess similarities between the effects of classic hallucinogens (eg, psilocybin), dissociative anesthetics (eg, ketamine), and entactogens (eg, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine [MDMA]) in humans. Serotonergic hallucinogens and psychotomimetic anesthetics produce overlapping psychotic syndromes associated with a marked activation of the prefrontal cortex (hyperfrontality) and other overlapping changes in temporoparietal, striatal, and thalamic regions, suggesting that both classes of drugs act upon a common final pathway. Together with the observation that both hallucinogens and N-methyl-oaspartate (NMDA) antagonists disrupt sensory gating in rats by acting on 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) 5-HT(2) receptors located in cortico-striato-thalamic circuitry these findings suggest that disruption of cortico-subcortical processing leading to sensory overload of the cortex is a communality of these psychoses. In contrast to hallucinogens, the entactogen MDMA produces an emotional state of positive mood, concomitant with an activation of prefrontolimbiclparalimbic structures and a deactivation of amygdala and thalamus.
Comparable studies
Other preclinical and animal studies on mescaline, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 78
- Quality of Acute Psychedelic Experience Predicts Therapeutic Efficacy of Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Frontiers in Pharmacology January 17, 2018
- Acute, subacute and long-term subjective effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: a pooled analysis of experimental studies Journal of Psychopharmacology September 20, 2010
- Serotonin research: contributions to understanding psychoses TIPS - Trends in Pharmacological Sciences August 1, 2008
- Peak experiences and the afterglow phenomenon: When and how do therapeutic effects of hallucinogens depend on psychedelic experiences? Journal of Psychopharmacology February 9, 2015
- Psilocybin – Summary of knowledge and new perspectives European Neuropsychopharmacology December 17, 2013
and 73 more in the library
Cites 28
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- The Standardized Psychometric Assessment of Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) in Humans Pharmacopsychiatry July 1, 1998
- Ketamine activates psychosis and alters limbic blood flow in schizophrenia Neuroreport April 1, 1995
and 23 more in the library