Researchers from the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics have suggested that the key to understanding why hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD can have beneficial effects in cases of depression, anxiety, and addiction – and why the neurotransmitter serotonin does not have the same results – may lie in the location of the receptors to which these drugs bind.
According to the authors of the study, the chemical structures of psychedelics allow them to cross the plasma membrane and activate intracellular receptors that are not easily accessible to serotonin itself. Other experts in the field have said that the findings could help researchers develop novel, non-hallucinogenic therapeutics for depression and related conditions.
