Current Status and Future Trends in Psychedelic (LSD) Research
Journal of Humanistic Psychology October 1, 1965 DOI: 10.1177/002216786500500204 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Epistemology |
| Citations | 23 |
| Key findings | Despite global findings of perceptual and autonomic changes from LSD, results have been inconsistent and contradictory due to methodological problems and controversy. |
Abstract
Since the discovery of d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) in 1943, a voluminous literature has accumulated concerning its effects on a variety of animals, including man. Despite the mass of published reports, definitive evidence is generally lacking, particularly with regard to the subjective and behavioral effects both during and subsequent to the LSD induced state. It is well established that this powerful agent produces major alterations in cerebral processes and central autonomic functions. There is also ample evidence indicating a markedly lowered threshold for arousal (Key & Bradley, 1960) and an increased sensitivity to stimuli in all modalities (Klee, 1963). These psychopharmacological effects parallel the findings of clinical and behavioral studies at least on the molar descriptive level. Pronounced perceptual changes have been almost invariably demonstrated with concomitant alterations in affect, ideation, and the relationship between subject and environment (Hoffer, 1965). Beyond these rather global findings, results have been inconsistent and often contradictory, even within species far less complex than man (Cohen, 1964). The well-known methodological problems encountered in research with centrally acting drugs are at least partly responsible for the slow progress thus far (Zubin & Katz, 1964). This has been especially true with human subjects. Systematic study of human reactions to LSD poses unique problems associated with greater organic complexity, shortcomings of currently available measuring devices, the ubiquity of individual differences, lack of an adequate theoretical model, and the influence of non-drug variables such as set and setting. In addition to these experimental obstacles, LSD has until recently been the center of a complicated medico-legal-social controversy (Harman, 1964). This has tended to obscure the relevant empirical questions and inhibit investigations which are both imaginative and reasonably objective.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on LSD, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Study of a New Schizophrenomimetic Drug—Sernyl | 1959 | Review | |
| Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. General population | 2019 | Integrative review | |
| The Pharmacology of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: A Review | 2008 | Review | |
| Serotonin research: contributions to understanding psychoses | 2008 | Review | |
| ADVERSE REACTIONS TO PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE | 1984 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 10
- Dose-Response Study of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine in Humans Archives of General Psychiatry February 1, 1994
- Current perspectives on psychedelic therapy: use of serotonergic hallucinogens in clinical interventions International Review of Psychiatry July 4, 2018
- Psychedelic Agents in Creative Problem-Solving: A Pilot Study Psychological Reports August 1, 1966
- Treatment of alcoholism using psychedelic drugs: a review of the program of research. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 1998
- Peak Experiences: Some Empirical Tests Journal of Humanistic Psychology July 1, 1978
and 5 more in the library