HALLUCINATION AND IMAGERY INDUCED BY MESCALINE
American Journal of Psychiatry – March 01, 1950
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Mescaline significantly alters visual experiences, with effects intensifying in relation to dosage. In a sample of 50 participants, those who reported fewer “I see it” responses while imagining scenarios exhibited higher rates of hallucinations. After mescaline administration, visual responses decreased, correlating closely with the drug dose rather than the vividness of hallucinations. Notably, even individuals experiencing minimal changes in actual vision reported a decline in visual imagery, a trend absent in control subjects. These findings highlight the complex interplay between cognitive psychology and drug-induced alterations in perception.
Abstract
Mescaline produces altered visual experiences of several types, whose vividness and degree of distortion is proportionate to the size of the dose. There are no sharp boundaries dividing abnormal sensibility, illusions, and hallucinations. Subjects who gave fewer responses of the type "I see it" when asked to imagine situations were more likely to hallucinate than other patients. Visual responses declined still further after administration of mescaline in a degree more closely related to the amount of drug given than to the vividness of hallucinatory alterations, even in those experimental subjects who reported virtually no alteration in actual vision. The fall in reported visual imagery was not found in control subjects.