Blood Flow and Cerebral Laterality in the Mescaline Model of Psychosis
Abstract
The psychological, neuropsychological, and neurometabolic effects of the hallucinogenic agent mescaline were investigated in 12 normal male volunteers. Between 3 1/2 and 4 hours after drug intake, mescaline produced an acute psychotomimetic state, as measured by the BPRS and PDS-P. The APZ questionnaire revealed the specific effects of mescaline in the visual system. Neuropsychological effects were studied with a face/non-face decision task with known right hemisphere advantage, in which mescaline induced a decrease in functioning of the right hemisphere. In functional brain imaging using SPECT, mescaline produced a "hyperfrontal" pattern with an emphasis on the right hemisphere, which was correlated with mescaline-induced psychotomimetic psychopathology. Our findings question the validity of the concept of hypofrontality as an explanation for acute psychotic symptomatology.
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Perfusion SPECT studies in (n = 12) healthy men showed that administration of mescaline evoked reduced blood flow in the frontal lobe, especially on the right side, which was correlated with impairment in a face/non-face task associated with the right frontal lobe.
“Perfusion SPECT studies in a group of (n = 12) healthy men showed that administration of mescaline evoked reduced blood flow in the frontal lobe, especially on the right side, which was correlated with impairment in a face/non-face task associated with the right frontal lobe [140].”
From Molecular and Functional Imaging Studies of Psychedelic Drug Action in Animals and Humans. (2021) · cites this paper as [140]
The increased right side perfusion after Ayahuasca and the right side hypermetabolism after psilocybin seem at odds with the right side hypoperfusion after mescaline.
“This increased right side perfusion after Ayahuasca [141] and the right side hypermetabolism after psilocybin [137] seem at odds with the right side hypoperfusion after mescaline [140].”
From Molecular and Functional Imaging Studies of Psychedelic Drug Action in Animals and Humans. (2021) · cites this paper as [140]
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“A 20 year research hiatus followed (9), until several studies in healthy participants gained ethics approval (10-13) through utilising psychedelics with less notoriety than LSD.”
Background
- Authors
- Hermle, L., Gouzoulis-Mayfrank, E., & Spitzer, M.
- Affiliations
- Universität Ulm (DE)
- Venue
- Pharmacopsychiatry
- Publisher
- Georg Thieme Verlag KG
- Published
- 1998-07
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- S 2
- Pages
- 85-91
- ISSN
- 0176-3679 (ISSN-L)
- 1439-0795
- OpenAlex
- W1963636752
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Pharmacopsychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Keywords
- mescaline, hallucinogens, psychosis, psychotomimetic effects, cerebral blood flow, right hemisphere, hypofrontality, SPECT, neuropsychological outcomes
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Cerebrovascular Circulation, Hallucinogens, Humans, Functional Laterality, Male, Mescaline, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Psychoses, Substance-Induced, Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
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