The Pharmacology of Mescaline and D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)

Interest in finding a biochemical cause for schizophrenia and other psychoses has recently revived. This is due to modern laboratory techniques that allow detection and measurement of substances in blood and tissues that were previously unmeasurable. The discovery of a partially correctable biochemical defect in phenylketonuria, a type of mental deficiency, has raised hopes that other mental diseases may also have biochemical explanations. Many researchers now think Freudian concepts, which focus on psychological causes, may be insufficient.

Study at a glance

Abstract

DURING the last few years a great revival of interest has occurred in the search for a biochemical basis for schizophrenia and the other types of psychosis. There are several reasons for this. Modern laboratory technics permit the detection and accurate quantitation of substances in the blood and tissues for which satisfactory procedures were not available formerly. The discovery of a partially correctable biochemical defect in one type of mental deficiency, phenylketonuria,1 has encouraged the hope that other forms of mental disease may be explained in similar terms. Many investigators believe that the Freudian concepts, with their emphasis on the . . .