Andrew Huberman· PhD
And in particular, there is a very, very, very high expression of serotonin 2A receptors in the visual cortex. And that is one of the reasons why psilocybin triggers visual hallucinations.
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The evidence is convergent. Multiple independent sources reach the same conclusion, the underlying mechanism is well-characterized, and even the field's most cautious voices treat it as worth doing.
And in particular, there is a very, very, very high expression of serotonin 2A receptors in the visual cortex. And that is one of the reasons why psilocybin triggers visual hallucinations.
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And so when somebody is under the influence of psilocybin, that means that psilocin has bound to the receptors on those apical dendrites. And it's increasing lateral communication across brain areas.
One possibility is that the activation of this serotonin 2A receptor leads to increased connectivity and thereby auditory and visual hallucinations emerge, changed patterns of thinking emerge, et cetera.
psilocybin, LSD, as far as we understand, largely work through activation of the serotonin 2A receptor, broadening of a brain network connectivity.
psilocybin and the classic hallucinogens do bind serotonin 2A and 2C. The effects are bleed from antagonism studies to be mediated primarily through 2A, but it's very likely and I think our current hypotheses would suggest that the major effects that we see are downstream and probably are glutamate-mediated