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"There's a section in PiHKAL where Shulgin talks about a researcher measuring properties of psychedelics using the twitches of a sheep's stomach. That's because

"There's a section in PiHKAL where Shulgin talks about a researcher measuring properties of psychedelics using the twitches of a sheep's stomach. That's because it contains serotonin receptors, and psychedelics induce muscle contraction. This is a common way to measure binding affinity to 5-HT receptors today, but it was quite exotic back then." Not all psychedelics affect serotonin receptors. For example, muscimol[1], the psychedelic constituent of amanita muscaria mushrooms affects GABA receptors, not serotonin receptors. So the absence of muscle contractions caused by serotonin activation in sheep stomachs would miss the psychedelic activity of muscimol and other psychedelics which don't affect serotonin receptors. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscimol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscimol

sterlind 5y ago
I'd argue that muscimol, salvia, ketamine etc. are hallucinogens, and reserve the label of psychedelic for serotonin agonists. But others argue they deserve the label, so perhaps we could compromise on "classical psychedelic."
- pmoriarty 5y ago
  The original meaning of psychedelic is "mind manifesting", which has nothing to do with serotonin. The term "hallucinogen" is a misnomer, because the effects of psychedelic substances (including muscimol, salvia, ketamine, etc..) don't always involve hallucinations. For example, if you forgive yourself or your parents under their influence (not an uncommon effect), that's not a hallucination. If you're able to face some traumatic event in your past while under their effects, and are no longer frightened of this traumatic event, that's not a hallucination. If a suicidal person no longer wants to kill themselves after taking a psychedelic, or a terminally ill person is finally able to achieve peace with the fact that they're going to die, that's not a hallucination. That's not to mention the quite common feeling while under the effect of psychedelics that what one experiences is "more real" than what one experiences under normal, waking consciousness, etc. I don't view the term "psychedelic" as perfect, but it's much better than "hallucinogen".

sterlind 5y ago

I'd argue that muscimol, salvia, ketamine etc. are hallucinogens, and reserve the label of psychedelic for serotonin agonists. But others argue they deserve the label, so perhaps we could compromise on "classical psychedelic."

pmoriarty 5y ago
The original meaning of psychedelic is "mind manifesting", which has nothing to do with serotonin. The term "hallucinogen" is a misnomer, because the effects of psychedelic substances (including muscimol, salvia, ketamine, etc..) don't always involve hallucinations. For example, if you forgive yourself or your parents under their influence (not an uncommon effect), that's not a hallucination. If you're able to face some traumatic event in your past while under their effects, and are no longer frightened of this traumatic event, that's not a hallucination. If a suicidal person no longer wants to kill themselves after taking a psychedelic, or a terminally ill person is finally able to achieve peace with the fact that they're going to die, that's not a hallucination. That's not to mention the quite common feeling while under the effect of psychedelics that what one experiences is "more real" than what one experiences under normal, waking consciousness, etc. I don't view the term "psychedelic" as perfect, but it's much better than "hallucinogen".