Serotonergic Hallucinogens and Emerging Targets for Addiction Pharmacotherapies

This article discusses the serotonergic hallucinogens (SHs) and includes classification systems, historical investigations, neurobiological mechanisms of action, addictive liability (from biological, behavioral, and epidemiologic perspectives), and potential therapeutic applications. The focus is on plausible neurobiologic mechanisms, though a small body of scholarship has also explored putative spiritual mechanisms of action. The article concludes with a discussion of an optimal study design to test SH treatment models for addictive disorders and review of the current state of the reemergence of research into these models at several major academic medical centers in the United States.