U.K. researchers have used functional MRI images (fMRI) to find disrupted patterns of activation in brain networks that underlie human thought and behavior in people who use the hallucinogenic drug LSD.
The study, presented last week at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology annual meeting in Hollywood, FL, provides evidence that LSD adversely affects connectivity within brain networks, such as how nerve cells or neurons stay in sync within a network.
Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and colleagues at Imperial College London evaluated brain activity through changes in blood flow through fMRI scans on 20 healthy volunteers. The images revealed that LSD led to a more chaotic brain state similar to what is seen in the onset of psychosis.
Researchers also found increased blood flow in the visual cortex at the back of the brain, which could explain the visual hallucinations and distortions so common in LSD overdoses.
