ABSTRACT

Serotonin, or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), as has been previously noted, is a well-known neurotransmitter in the brain, especially in the Raphe nucleus, and modulation of its production, reuptake, enzymolysis, and production and activity of at least seven different proteins that serve as serotonin receptors and their subtypes comprise a large part of the psychopharmacologic strategies of psychiatry. Entheogenic compounds seem to provide a kind of template for a type of anticancer effect, though congeners of these entheogens that do not possess psychoactive activity may still be potent, sometimes even more potent than the parent entheogen, as anticancer agents. Lymphocytes collectively have an internal sense of self, and their cognitive ability to coordinate their immunological movements coincides with having serotonin receptors on their cell surfaces. Neurons, which collectively maintain through thought processes a sense of self, also may possess serotonin receptors on their cell surfaces.