The hypothesis that the action of hallucinogenic drugs is mediated by a depression of the activity of brain serotonergic (raphe) neurons was tested by examining the behavioral effects of d -lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) while studying the activity of raphe neurons in freely moving cats. Although the results provide general support for the hypothesis, there were several important...
Cats injected with LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide) exhibit a group of behaviors that appear to be specific to hallucinogenic drugs. Two of these behaviors, limb flick and abortive grooming, have an extremely low frequency of occurrence in normal cats, but often dominate the behavior of LSD-treated cats. The frequency of occurrence of this group of behaviors is related to the dose of LSD. The...