Serotonergic Research
About
Research Interests
- Central serotonin system and its contribution to mammal consciousness, mood, and cognition
- Serotonergic hallucinogens and correlates of hallucinogenic activity (e.g., haemo-and pyramidal-cellular 5-HT2Aergics)
- Serotonergic thermoregulation (e.g., 5-HT2A in hyperthermia)
- Neuropsychopharmacology of substances of abuse (and mechanisms of addiction)
Current Project
CIMH Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Univ. Heidelberg (supported by Seed Funding for Research at ZI):
- Psilocybin in animal models of addiction
- Substrates of psychedelic Wet Dog Shakes
Former Projects
Imperial College London
(supported by MSCA and The Beckley Foundation)
The project addressed the 5-HT2Aergics of (brain-imminent) neck-arterial blood-flow as a function of thermoregulation (for further information: growkudos.com), as well as the haemo- and pyramidal-cellular corticodynamics of the "psychedelic signature move" (for further information: MSCA blog)
Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg
(supported by LOM [Performance-based allocation of funds, Univ. Magdeburg])
Regulation of serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptors and its relevance for tolerance to serotonergic hallucinogens (incl., LSD, DMT, and DOB)
Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg
Evaluation of the antidepressant-like properties of LSD in an animal model of depression (i.e., olfactory bulbectomy)
Publications
- Buchborn T, Kettner H, Kaertner L, Meinhardt M (2023). The ego in psychedelic drug action – ego defenses, ego boundaries, and the therapeutic role of regression. Front. Neurosci., 17. doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1232459 (open access).
- Buchborn T, Lyons T, Song C, Feilding A, Knöpfel T (2023). Cortical Correlates of Psychedelic-Induced Shaking BehaviorRevealed by Voltage Imaging. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 24, 9463. doi.org/10.3390/ijms24119463 (open access).
- Spriggs MJ, Giribaldi B, Lyons T, Rosas FE, Kärtner LS, Buchborn T, Douglass HM, Roseman L, Timmermann C, Erritzoe D, Nutt DJ, Carhart-Harris RL (2023). Body mass index (BMI) does not predict responses to psilocybin. J. Psychopharmacol., 37, 1, 107-116. doi.org/10.1177/02698811221131994 (open access).
- Kärtner L, Steinborn M, Kettner H, Spriggs M, Roseman L, Buchborn T, Balaet M, Timmermann C, Erritzoe D, Carhart-Harris R (2021). Positive expectations predict improved mental-health outcomes linked to psychedelic microdosing. Sci. rep., 11, 1941. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81446-7 (open access).
- Buchborn T, Lyons T, Song C, Feilding A, Knöpfel T (2020). The 5-HT2AR agonist 25CN-NBOH increases murine heart rate and neck-arterial blood flow in a temperature-dependent manner. J. Psychopharmacol., 34, 7, 786–794. doi: 10.1177/0269881120903465 (green open access).
- Buchborn T, Lyons T, Knöpfel T (2018). Tolerance and Tachyphylaxis to Head Twitches Induced by the 5-HT2A Agonist 25CN-NBOH in Mice. Front. pharmacol., 9, 17. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00017 (open access).
- Buchborn T, Grecksch G, Dieterich DC, Höllt V (2016). Tolerance to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD): Overview, correlates, and clinical implications. In: Preedy VR (ed.), Neuropathology of Drug Addictions and Substance Misuse, Volume 2: Stimulants, Club and Dissociative Drugs, Hallucinogens, Steroids, Inhalants and International Aspects, 846-858. Academic Press. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-800212-4.00079-0 (green open access).
- Buchborn T, Schröder H, Koch T, Kahl E, Dieterich DC, Grecksch G, Höllt V (2016). Differential tolerance to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and dimethyltryptamine (DMT) – A matter of serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptor downregulation? Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol., 389, Suppl. 1, S63.
- Buchborn T, Schröder H, Dieterich DC, Grecksch G, Höllt V (2015). Tolerance to LSD and DOB induced Shaking behaviour: Differential adaptations of frontocortical 5-HT2A and glutamate receptor binding sites. Behav. Brain Res., 281, 62–68. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2014.12.014 (green open access).
- Buchborn T, Schröder H, Höllt V, Grecksch G (2014). Repeated lysergic acid diethylamide in an animal model of depression: Normalisation of learning behaviour and hippocampal serotonin 5-HT2 signalling. J. Psychopharmacol., 28, 6, 545-552. doi: 10.1177/0269881114531666 (green open access).
- Buchborn T, Kahl E, Höllt V, Koch T (2012). Agonist-selective internalization of the human 5-HT2A receptor. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg´s Arch. Pharmacol., 385, Suppl. 1, S17. doi: 10.1007/s00210-012-0736-0 (green open access).
- Buchborn T, Schröder H, Dieterich DC, Koch T, Börner C, Becker A, Grecksch G, Höllt V (in preparation). Tolerance to serotonergic hallucinogens - Differential regulation of 5-HT2A receptors by LSD and DMT.
Outreach
Information about outreach activities will appear here.
This post-ASSC 2025 workshop will serve as an interdisciplinary retreat to advance research on consciousness, altered states, and computational phenomenology. It will integrate perspectives from neuroscience, VR, computational modeling, and philosophy, fostering collaboration among researchers with a shared interest in non-ordinary conscious states. A key focus will be on the measurement of subjective effects in altered states research, exploring innovative experiential approaches using VR to induce and study these phenomena. The workshop will also highlight neurophenomenological methods that bridge first-person experience with third-person data, particularly at the intersections of art and neuroscience. Through focused discussions, cross-disciplinary talks, and collaborative sessions, participants will explore formal models of consciousness, including mathematical frameworks and neural modeling approaches. The workshop aims to establish a long-term research consortium, promoting sustainable partnerships and open collaboration to bridge empirical and theoretical perspectives in the study of altered states.
