Mescaline

Mescaline is a phenethylamine derivative that naturally occurs in plants such as Lophophora williamsii, and its effects are mainly characterized by profound alterations in perception, emotion, and states of consciousness. Mescaline acts as a partial agonist at the 5-HT2A receptor and can stimulate 5-HT2A receptors in the cerebral cortex, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, resulting in increased cortical neuronal excitability. This alters the way sensory signals are processed, disrupts perceptual integration, and reorganizes conscious experience. Mescaline also affects the thalamic "filtering" of sensory information, allowing a greater volume of normally suppressed sensory input to reach the cerebral cortex. This altered thalamocortical signal regulation is commonly used to explain phenomena such as visual hallucinations and sensory enhancement.