That question is still being answered, but a recent review suggests that it is via their specific interactions with one of the serotonin receptors (the serotonin 2A).9 The drugs induce activity in genes that are associated with neuroplasticity and disrupt established/default connections between groups of neurons, which “may allow the brain to re-enter a state of widespread global plasticity, whereby the maladaptive patterns responsible for the manifestation of psychiatric illness can be reset.”
