Effects of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD-25) on Intellectual Functions
Archives of Neurology And Psychiatry – October 01, 1958
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
At doses of 100μg of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), memory impairment becomes significant, evidenced by lower scores on four out of five visual tests and two out of four auditory tests. In contrast, a dose of 40μg showed little to no impairment. A separate study with a dosage of 1μg/kg body weight indicated memory issues but focused solely on unrelated test words. These findings highlight the nuanced effects of psychedelics like LSD on working memory across different types of material.
Abstract
I. MemoryIntroduction. —The results of previous studies of the effect of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) on memory suggest that the minimal dose level at which impairment becomes evident lies somewhere between 50μg. and 100μg. Sloane and Lovett Doust,1working at the 40μg. level, and Jarvik et al.,2working at the 50μg. level, found little or no evidence of memory impairment in their studies. However, the latter investigators reported that when the dose level was raised to 100μg., scores were significantly lower on four of the five visual tests and on two of the four auditory tests that they employed. Bercel et al.,3who used 1μg/kg. body weight, also found evidence of impairment, but they studied memory for only one kind of material, a series of unrelated test words. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether memory for various kinds of material is differentially