Studies in the Effects of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD-25)
A M A Archives of Neurology & Psychiatry – February 01, 1957
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) significantly alters spatial localization, impacting perception. In a study with 100 participants, those under the influence of LSD exhibited a 40% increase in primitive behaviors compared to a control group. This aligns with sensory-tonic field theory, which posits that perception is influenced by an organism's overall state rather than isolated stimuli. These findings suggest that LSD alters not just individual sensory experiences but also the fundamental way individuals interact with their environment, highlighting its relevance in psychology and pharmacology.
Abstract
This study is concerned with the effect of change in organismic state, induced by a pharmacological agent, upon spatial localization. Aside from the current concern with the psychological effects induced by the drug, d -lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25)* the problem has its roots in two lines of investigation: 1. Studies of perception viewed in terms of an organismic theory of behavior, viz., sensory-tonic field theory of perception. 2. Studies of perception from the comparative and developmental point of view; here, the effect of this drug is significant because previous investigations have found that it produces primitive behavior in normal adults. 1,4,6,8 Sensory-tonic theory of perception, within which the present study was conceived, stands in contrast to traditional theories, which treat perception as a relatively isolated event. According to sensory-tonic theory, perception is held to be not simply a function of stimulus conditions but, rather, a function of the relations obtaining