The Effects of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide on Energy Metabolism in Rat Brain
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Authors
Ewend, Matthew G.
Issue Date
1986
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The brain uses glucose as its primary source for metabolic
energy. 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) is taken up by the same mechanism in
brain cells as glucose but becomes trapped in brain cells as
6-phospho-2DG. Radioactive 2DG can be used as a tracer to
autoradiographically determine the actual glucose utilization in
rat brain. 53 areas or nuclei of the brain and central nervous
system were studied. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) caused
significant depression in 11 of these areas. The auditory,
visual, and olfactory pathways, as well as the hippocampus, were
found to be the major sites of action. The medial geniculate body
of the auditory pathway and the lateral geniculate of the visual
pathways were both inhibited. However, the auditory cortex but
not the visual cortex showed decreased metabolic activity after
LSD treatment. This may help explain why LSD users report more
visual than auditory hallucinations. The visual cortex functions
without perceptual data, which is blocked at the lateral
geniculate, while the auditory cortex shuts down.
Description
v, 41 p.
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