Study of a New Schizophrenomimetic Drug—Sernyl

Since 1921, researchers have induced temporary psychotic-like states in animals and humans using drugs such as bulbocapnine, mescaline, and LSD-25, aiming to test theories about schizophrenia. Some psychiatrists, like Ebaugh, argue these drug-induced pseudopsychoses differ so markedly from schizophrenia that their relevance to understanding the disorder is limited. Others, like Wikler, contend that for developing causal concepts of behavior, whether the model psychoses resemble schizophrenia is unimportant. The abstract presents this ongoing debate without resolving it.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Introduction The production of model psychoses has been employed as a technique for testing hypotheses relevant to the causes, correlates, and treatment of schizophrenia since 1921, when De Jong demonstrated experimental catatonia by giving bulbocapnine to animals.5This method of study has received considerable impetus with the discovery of the hallucinogenic properties of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25)22and other psychotomimetic agents. Objections have since been raised to the drawing of premature analogies between the psychotic-like states produced by drugs and the psychopathology of schizophrenia. Ebaugh has pointed out that "the difference between these pseudopsychoses and schizophrenia is so striking that such experimentation seems to have only tenuous relevance to the problem of schizophrenia."7On the other hand, Wikler has asserted that "from the standpoint of the development of dynamic (causal) concepts about human behavior, it matters little whether or not model psychoses resemble schizophrenia. Drugs which modify