Comparison of phencyclidine hydrochloride (Sernyl) with other drugs. Simulation of schizophrenic performance with phencyclidine hydrochloride (Sernyl), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25), and amobarbital (Amytal) sodium; II. Symbolic and sequential thinking.

Summary

Phencyclidine hydrochloride, a compound with anesthetic and sedative properties, produced profound disturbances in reaction time, motor learning, and weight discrimination in normal subjects given subanesthetic doses. The degree and pattern of these deficits closely matched those found in chronic schizophrenic patients who took the same tests without drugs. These psychotomimetic effects were not due solely to the drug's hallucinogenic or sedative properties, as lysergic acid diethylamide and amobarbital sodium did not produce the same degree or pattern of deficits. The deficits seen in normal subjects under phencyclidine and in chronic schizophrenia may share a common underlying cause.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In a previous report7the administration of phencyclidine hydrochloride, a chemical compound with anesthetic and sedative properties, was shown to produce profound disturbances in reaction time, motor learning, and weight discrimination. These findings were obtained with normal subjects who had been given subanesthetic doses of the drug. The degree and pattern of drug-produced deficits closely approximated those found in a group of chronic schizophrenic patients given the same battery of tests without drugs. These psychotomimetic effects could not be attributed solely to the drug's hallucinogenic or to its sedative properties, since other drugs with each of these properties (lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD-25] and amobarbital sodium) produced neither the degree nor the pattern of deficits demonstrated under phencyclidine hydrochloride. It was tentatively concluded that the deficits seen in normal subjects under phencyclidine hydrochloride and in chronic schizophrenia might be attributable to a common underlying