Mescaline-induced psychopathological, neuropsychological, and neurometabolic effects in normal subjects: experimental psychosis as a tool for psychiatric research.
L. Hermle, M. Fünfgeld, G. Oepen, H. Botsch, D. Borchardt, E. Gouzoulis, R. Fehrenbach, M. Spitzer
Biological Psychiatry December 1, 1992 DOI: 10.1016/0006-3223(92)90059-9 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractIn 12 healthy male volunteers, mescaline produced an acute psychotic state 3.5–4 hours after intake, measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and Paranoid Depression Scale. The Assessment of Altered States of Consciousness questionnaire showed specific effects on the visual system. A face/nonface decision task revealed decreased functioning of the right hemisphere. Brain imaging with SPECT showed a hyperfrontal pattern, especially in the right hemisphere, which correlated with psychotic symptoms. These findings question the idea that hypofrontality explains schizophrenia symptoms. Studying psychoactive substances under controlled conditions allows intraindividual control and minimal data variability.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 12 |
| Population | Normal men who were volunteers |
| Intervention | Mescaline |
| Keywords | Medicine Psychology |
| Citations | 185 |
| Key finding | Mescaline produced an acute psychotic state with a hyperfrontal brain pattern emphasizing the right hemisphere, questioning hypofrontality as an explanation for schizophrenic symptomatology. |
Abstract
The psychological, neuropsychological, and neurometabolic effects of the hallucinogenic agent mescaline were investigated in 12 normal men who were volunteers. Mescaline produced an acute psychotic state 3 1/2-4 hr after drug intake, as measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Paranoid Depression Scale (PDS). The Assessment of Altered States of Consciousness (APZ) questionnaire revealed specific effects of mescaline in the visual system. Neuropsychological effects were studied with a face/nonface decision task with known right-hemisphere advantage, in which mescaline induced a decrease of functioning of the right hemisphere. In functional brain imaging using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), mescaline produced a "hyperfrontal" pattern with an emphasis on the right hemisphere, which was correlated with mescaline-induced psychotic psychopathology. Our findings question the validity of the concept of hypofrontality as an explanation for schizophrenic symptomatology. The study of psychoactive substances under controlled laboratory conditions has the methodological advantage of intraindividual control, and hence, minimal variability of data.