Thursday, May 1, 2008

How Do Hallucinogens Work?

"Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, who discovered the hallucinogenic drug LSD, died yesterday. But the LSD trip is far from over as scientists bring lucidity to how hallucinogens work. Also called psychedelics, hallucinogens alter a person's perception, mood and a slew of other mental processes. Hallucinogen history goes back centuries as people worldwide have taken the drugs to induce altered states for religious and spiritual purposes. While LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), mescaline and other psychedelics were studied in the past, research largely came to a halt after recreational abuse of the drugs in the 1960s, with some work resuming in the 1990s. Many studies now rely on animal models such as mice."