Human experimental research with hallucinogenic drugs is potentially able to identify linking variables between the psycho(patho)logical conditions and neurobiological alterations involved in both pharmacologically induced and naturally occurring acute psychotic states. A number of methodological aspects should be considered when planning modern experimental studies with hallucinogenic drugs....
Systematic scientific interest in psychedelic substances has a tradition of about 100 years. Numerous human experimental studies have confirmed the existence of a common nucleus of experiences in hallucinogen-induced states and the acute stages of schizophrenic psychoses. However, the degree of resemblance between endogenous and drug-induced psychotic states has been an issue of controversial...
The concepts of intoxication, intoxication psychosis, and drug-induced psychosis are frequently used to refer to psychopathological states caused by the intake of hallucinogenic substances. The considerable increase of intoxications with substances of the chemical class of amphetamines (in particular, "Ecstasy") in western countries should cause major concern. Moreover, the number of...