The effects of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) on the Positive Valence Systems: A Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)-Informed Systematic Review.
CNS drugs December 1, 2023 Niloufar Pouyan, Farnaz Younesi Sisi, Alireza Kargar et al. 12 citations
A review of 28 clinical studies with 477 participants examined how lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) affects reward processing, using the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework. LSD produced dose-dependent mood improvement in 20 short-term and 3 long-term studies. Its subjective and neural effects were linked to the 5-HT2A receptor. Animal studies suggested LSD could mildly reinforce conditioned place preference without aversion and reduce responsiveness to other rewards. Findings on reward learning were inconsistent but hinted at potential enhancements in associative learning. Reward valuation measures indicated possible reductions in effort expenditure for other reinforcers. The review identified areas for future research but noted limitations including diverse study designs not initially RDoC-oriented and potential bias from open-label human studies.