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.
Archives of General Psychiatry May 1, 1962 B. Cohen, G. Rosenbaum, E. Luby et al. 131 citations
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.