UC Davis researchers have developed a new method that uses light to transform amino acids—the building blocks of proteins—into molecules that are similar in structure to psychedelics and mimic their ...

Psilocybin—the psychedelic compound that occurs naturally in certain "magic" mushroom species—has been shown in trials to ...

Signals in our brain are not always processed in the same way: certain receptors modulate these mechanisms, influencing our mood, perception, and behavior in various ways. One of these is the 5-HT2A ...

The team synthesized seven naturally occurring human variants of the 5-HT 2A serotonin receptor, a protein made in neurons that binds to a precursor of serotonin called 5-hydroxytryptamine. Upon ...

Since the 1960s, researchers have postulated that major depression stems from disruptions in the serotonin neurotransmitter system, but the evidence for that idea, though plentiful, was indirect. In ...

Serotonergic psychedelics, such as psilocybin and LSD, are also commonly referred to as hallucinogens because at higher "trip-inducing" doses (as opposed to microdoses), these drugs typically trigger ...