Animal models of serotonergic psychedelics
This review (2012) presents the behavioral effects induced by psychedelic drugs in animal models and evaluates how results from animal studies can be translate to humans. It also defines areas where further research is needed to better understand the molecular mechanisms and neuronal circuits underlying the neuropsychological effects of classical psychedelics.
Authors
- Hanks, J. B.
- González-Maeso, J.
Published
Abstract
The serotonin 5-HT2A receptor is the major target of psychedelic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, and psilocybin. Serotonergic psychedelics induce profound effects on cognition, emotion, and sensory processing that often seem uniquely human. This raises questions about the validity of animal models of psychedelic drug action. Nonetheless, recent findings suggest behavioral abnormalities elicited by psychedelics in rodents that predict such effects in humans. Here we review the behavioral effects induced by psychedelic drugs in rodent models, discuss the translational potential of these findings, and define areas where further research is needed to better understand the molecular mechanisms and neuronal circuits underlying their neuropsychological effects.
Research Summary of 'Animal models of serotonergic psychedelics'
Introduction
The paper frames serotonergic psychedelics (for example LSD, mescaline and psilocybin) as primarily acting at the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor and notes that these drugs produce profound alterations of cognition, emotion and sensory processing that are often described in uniquely human terms. That raises questions about the face validity of animal models because standard psychometric instruments for altered states of consciousness rely on verbal report, and because rodent sensory systems differ from humans (for example relatively poor vision but strong olfaction and somatosensation). Earlier research has nonetheless identified behavioral and pharmacological signatures in rodents that appear to predict aspects of human psychedelic action. Hanks and colleagues set out to review behavioural effects of serotonergic psychedelics across a range of rodent assays, emphasising which paradigms show translational potential and what is known about underlying molecular mechanisms and neural circuits. The review focuses on individual behavioural readouts (for example head-twitch, drug discrimination, fixed-ratio pauses, locomotion, prepulse inhibition, anxiety-like measures, impulsivity, time perception and memory) and integrates pharmacological and genetic evidence that implicates 5-HT2A and interacting receptors in those effects.
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Hanks, J. B., & González-Maeso, J. (2013). Animal models of serotonergic psychedelics. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 4(1), 33-42. https://doi.org/10.1021/cn300138m
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