Role of the 5-HT2A Receptor in Self- and Other-Initiated Social Interaction in Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-Induced States: A Pharmacological fMRI Study

This double-blind, placebo-controlled, fMRI study (n=24) found that LSD (100 μg) reduced activity in brain areas responsible for self-processing and social cognition. This also translated to subjective effects and reduced joint attention.

Abstract

“Distortions of self-experience are critical symptoms of psychiatric disorders and have detrimental effects on social interactions. In light of the immense need for improved and targeted interventions for social impairments, it is important to better understand the neurochemical substrates of social interaction abilities. We therefore investigated the pharmacological and neural correlates of self- and other-initiated social interaction. In a double-blind, randomized, counterbalanced, crossover study 24 healthy human participants (18 males and 6 females) received either (1) placebo + placebo, (2) placebo + lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD; 100 μg, p.o.), or (3) ketanserin (40 mg, p.o.) + LSD (100 μg, p.o.) on three different occasions. Participants took part in an interactive task using eye-tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging completing trials of self- and other-initiated joint and non-joint attention. Results demonstrate first, that LSD reduced activity in brain areas important for self-processing, but also social cognition; second, that change in brain activity was linked to subjective experience; and third, that LSD decreased the efficiency of establishing joint attention. Furthermore, LSD-induced effects were blocked by the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) antagonist ketanserin, indicating that effects of LSD are attributable to 5-HT2AR stimulation. The current results demonstrate that activity in areas of the “social brain” can be modulated via the 5-HT2AR thereby pointing toward this system as a potential target for the treatment of social impairments associated with psychiatric disorders.”

Authors: Katrin H. Preller, Leonhard Schilbach, Thomas Pokorny, Jan Flemming, Erich Seifritz & Franz X. Vollenweider

Notes

This paper is included in our ‘Top 12 Articles on Psychedelics and Serotonin (5HT) Receptors

Study details

Compounds studied
LSD

Topics studied
Neuroscience Personality

Study characteristics
Original Placebo-Controlled Double-Blind Within-Subject

Participants
24 Humans

Authors

Authors associated with this publication with profiles on Blossom

Katrin Preller
Katrin Preller is one of the upcoming researchers, currently at the University of Zurich and Yale University, and is focused on the neurobiology and pharmacology of psychedelics.

Franz Vollenweider
Franz X. Vollenweider is one of the pioneering psychedelics researchers, currently at the University of Zurich. He is also the director of the Heffter (sponsored) Research Center Zürich for Consciousness Studies (HRC-ZH).

Institutes

Institutes associated with this publication

University of Zurich
Within the Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics at the University of Zurich, Dr Mialn Scheidegger is leading team conducting psychedelic research and therapy development.

Compound Details

The psychedelics given at which dose and how many times

LSD 100 μg | 2x

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