How does LSD do *that* to your brain?
In: Biology
Like you’re five? Ok…
So there are these little locks (like a door lock) in your head that control the way you feel. Those little tabs of paper have a chemical on them that fits into the locks and stays there for a while and makes you feel funny.
The most metaphorical way to explain it to a five year old is that your brain runs on fuel like your car. And if the fuel changes, your brain function changes.
I could go all specific receptor affinity, but let’s just say this: the receptors that that drug sticks to are the ones that control perception along with mood and a handful of other feelings you may have. (5ht-2a mostly)
LSD functions primarily through the neurotransmitter serotonin, and to a lesser extent dopamine. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter that, among other things, regulates mood, cognition, and memory, and triggers feelings of well-being and happiness. It’s unclear exactly how LSD works on the serotonin receptors in the brain, but it’s believed to excite areas responsible for though and consciousness, and block parts of the brain that suppress extraneous sensory processing.
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