Under the influence of LSD

It is a matter of psychoactive substances, most of us are paralyzed at the thought of loss of reason, even for a moment. Psychotropic substances for some people are a recipe for a good party, and for others they are extremely dangerous and very often a one-way ticket. But no matter how many of us see them, and despite the fact that the government is closing its eyes on many of the positive research, more and more psychoactive substances give hope for the treatment of a number of mental states and even shed light on our understanding of human consciousness.

For example, ketamine is well known in medicine as an analgesic, used in both humans and animals. Studies, however, show that besides its pain-relieving qualities, it has a remarkable ability to treat depression, bipolar disorder and suicidal behavior. Remarkable is its extremely rapid action as an antidepressant, it achieves its effect within two hours, unlike the antidepressants used, where the effect may be delayed for months.

Cannabis has the potential to treat problems of concentration and sleep. In fact, cannabis also has some other promising applications, but they are beyond its psychotropic effect.
Various other hallucinogens, the active substance in the so-called "magic mushrooms" - psilocybin, can help those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and even Parkinson's. And the most powerful psychoactive substance LSD could cure anxiety, depression, alcoholism and even inflammatory illnesses.

Unfortunately, despite promising first clinical results, there are serious barriers to this type of research, such as social mood and laws, fear and poor reputation of psychoactive substances.

Yet few have managed to conduct modern clinical studies of psychoactive substances such as LSD, ketamine and psilocybin. And, as it turns out, besides their potential as medicines for the treatment of a number of diseases, scientists hope with their help to unlock some of the mysteries of human consciousness.
One of the few is David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College, London.

"Regardless of the unique opportunity that LSD gives us to understand more about the human brain, political stigma silences this type of research [...]," says Nutt, pointing out that as long as LSD is banned, only a single clinical test of the substance has taken place. "[...] Where science has the potential to do good, we must not play politics," he adds.

So far, Nutt investigates 20 objects, under the influence of a moderate dose of LSD, using fMRI and MEG to document the effect on the brain.

It is believed that the action of LSD is similar to psilocybin, reduces the blood flow in brain control centers, slowing down their activity, which ultimately improves the relationship between different brain areas. Thus, distant normal areas begin to communicate with each other, which is perhaps the reason for increased creativity in objects under the influence of these substances. We will know for sure after completing the second stage of research by Professor David Nutt.

Under the influence of LSD, the very experiences people describe in many different ways, but most often they say that the vocabulary is too poor to express the "journey." An interesting fact is that people with sensory deprivation have similar difficulties.

"Psychedelic substances are illegal not because the loving government is concerned that one day you can jump out of the window on the third floor. These substances are forbidden because they destroy the established social models and cultural norms of behavior and information processing. This opens up the possibility of understanding that anything we know may be wrong. "- George Orwell.

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