SENSORY DEPRIVATION AND SCHIZOPHRENIA: SOME CLINICAL AND THEORETICAL SIMILARITIES

A new experimental model of schizophrenia, based on perceptual interference, is argued to be superior to drug-induced models using mescaline or LSD. This approach reproduces primary symptoms more closely and avoids the confounding effects of toxic psychosis caused by drugs. While not a complete answer, the model is presented as a valuable tool for linking laboratory research to clinical understanding.

Study at a glance

Abstract

It would seem, in fact, that we now have an experimental model of the schizophrenic syndrome superior to the "model psychoses" induced with mescaline or LSD. Not only will perceptual interference reproduce more closely the primary symptoms of schizophrenia, but these disturbances are caused entirely by external manipulation, without the confusion of a toxic psychosis. While of course we cannot assume that approaches such as these will give us valid answers to all our questions, I believe we have here an important instrument to help us bridge the gap between the laboratory and the clinic.