PSYCHEDELICS - Sciencemadness.org

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____________________________________________________ Psychedelics
Figure 6. Ten consecutive responses to repetitive light flashes are
recorded in the visual projection area of a rabbit. From such
records the curves shown in figure 5 were constructed. Note the
complex response, consisting of primary response (at about 20
milliseconds after stimulus, at extreme left of records) and series
of later responses with large component about 200 milliseconds
after stimulus. Left column before, middle column one minute
after, and right column one hour after, LSD-25. Note marked
decrease in variability of primary response and of later responses
after LSD-25. (From Koella and Wells, op. cit.)
One may assume that the response variability is the manifestation
of a spontaneous endogenous fluctuation in excitability
of the various synaptic sites interposed in the afferent
sensory pathways. One may go further by postulating that
this variability is of importance for the well-being of the organism
and that the psychotomimetic action of substances
like LSD-25 is, in part at least, due to their ability to decrease
this variability. In this connection, it is noteworthy to mention
that Bergen and collaborators (1962), in rabbit preparations
similar to those described above, demonstrated a
variability-reducing effect, similar to that of LSD-25, as a