Erowid References Database
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Aghaianian GK.
“Psychotogenic drug action on chemically defined neurons”.
Psychopharmacol.Bull.. 1977;13(3):54-55.
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Abstract
The neurophysiological effects of psychotogenic drugs on histochemically identified single neurons in the brain were studied in rats. The relative potencies of psilocin, DMT, and bufotenine were tested upon 5-HT neurons in the raphe (presynaptic neurons) and postsynaptic neurons in the ventral lateral geniculate and amygdala. Psilocin showed the greatest preferential inhibitory effect upon raphe as compared to postsynaptic neurons. DMT was intermediate, and bufotenine had the least differential activity. This ordering correlated with the relative hallucinogenic potencies of these compounds. LSD, but not its psychotropically weak 2-bromo derivative (BOL) had a highly potent 5-HT agonist inhibitory action on serotonergic neurons; both drugs had a relatively weak inhibitory action (compared to 5-HT) on postsynaptic cells in the ventral lateral geniculate and amygdala. By means of a retrograde tracing method, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was recovered in well localized and intense depositions specifically in the raphe nuclei. The area that exhibited the most striking degree of retrograde transport was the lateral habenular nucleus. Other areas that showed some retrograde transport were the medial forebrain bundle, preoptic area, and orbital cortex. Stimulation of the habenular area (but not adjacent sites) had a rapid and profound inhibitory action On the firing of raphe neurons, suggesting that the lateral habenular nuclei represent a pivotal relay station for funneling information from the forebrain limbic system back to the raphe. A specific subgroup of striatal neurons projected to the substantia nigra. When such strio-nigral projections were surgically interrupted, the inhibitory effect of d - amphetamine on dopaminergic neurons was largely blocked.
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