Clinical utility of fMRI in evaluating of LSD effect on pain-related brain networks in healthy subjects.
Heliyon August 15, 2024 A Faramarzi, M Fooladi, M Yousef Pour et al. 4 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) relieves pain by modulating the brain's pain neural network. In a crossover study with 20 healthy volunteers, brain scans using fMRI showed that LSD alters activity and connectivity in pain-processing regions. During placebo, more active voxels appeared in the anterior cingulate cortex, thalamus, insula cortex, parietal operculum, and frontal pole compared to LSD. LSD increased activity in left frontal pole and left insula cortex. Functional connectivity patterns differed between LSD and placebo, and effective connectivity between the left anterior insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and secondary somatosensory cortex changed significantly. These results suggest LSD affects pain network architecture and function.