This balanced-order crossover study (n=20) investigates the effects of LSD (75µg) on the pain neural network using fMRI in healthy subjects. The study finds that LSD modulates brain regions involved in pain processing, showing differences in activity and connectivity compared to placebo, and highlights potential implications for future cognitive science and pharmacology research.
Abstract of Clinical Utility of fMRI in Evaluating of LSD Effect on Pain-Related Brain Networks in Healthy Subjects
“Objective: We aimed to evaluate the effect of Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on the pain neural network (PNN) in healthy subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Methods: Twenty healthy volunteers participated in a balanced-order crossover study, receiving intravenous administration of LSD and placebo in two fMRI scanning sessions. Brain regions associated with pain processing were analyzed by amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), independent component analysis (ICA), functional connectivity and dynamic casual modeling (DCM).
Results: ALFF analysis demonstrated that LSD effectively relieves pain due to modulation in the neural network associated with pain processing. ICA analysis showed more active voxels in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), thalamus (THL)-left, THL-right, insula cortex (IC)-right, parietal operculum (PO)-left, PO-right and frontal pole (FP)-right in the placebo session than the LSD session. There were more active voxels in FP-left and IC-left in the LSD session compared to the placebo session. Functional brain connectivity was observed between THL-left and PO-right and between PO-left with FP-left, FP-right and IC-left in the placebo session. In the LSD session, functional connectivity of PO-left with FP-left and FP-right was observed. The effective connectivity between left anterior insula cortex (lAIC)-lAIC, lAIC-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and secondary somatosensory cortex (SII)-dlPFC were significantly different. Finally, the correlation between fMRI biomarkers and clinical pain criteria was calculated.
Conclusion: This study enhances our understanding of the LSD effect on the architecture and neural behavior of pain in healthy subjects and provides great promise for future research in the field of cognitive science and pharmacology.”
Authors: A. Faramarzi, M. Fooladi, M. Yousef Pour, E. Khodamoradi, A. Chehreh, S. Amiri, M. Shavandi & H. Sharin
Summary of Clinical Utility of fMRI in Evaluating of LSD Effect on Pain-Related Brain Networks in Healthy Subjects
LSD is a well-known serotonergic hallucinogen that modulates human consciousness in a profound and novel way. It was made illegal in the late 1960s, but there has been a resurgence of interest in the therapeutic effects of psychotropic agents. Modern functional neuroimaging techniques have focused on the acute effects of psychedelic drugs and have delineated brain network changes in chronic pain. Recently, fMRI scanning has provided a sensitive tool for investigation how LSD affects the brain.
In this study, healthy individuals were randomly selected to receive LSD and placebo, and advanced fMRI analysis methods were used to investigate the connectivity patterns of LSD effect on brain regions that are associated with pain processing.
Materials & Methods
20 healthy volunteers participated in the study, which included ECG analysis, routine blood test, urine drug test and pregnancy test. A psychiatric interview was conducted, and participants presented their history of drug use.
Find this paper
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34401
Open Access | Google Scholar | Backup | 🕊
Cite this paper (APA)
Faramarzi, A., Fooladi, M., Pour, M. Y., Khodamoradi, E., Chehreh, A., Amiri, S., & Sharini, H. (2024). Clinical Utility of fMRI in Evaluating of LSD Effect on Pain-Related Brain Networks in Healthy Subjects. Heliyon.
Study details
Topics studied
Healthy Subjects
Neuroscience
Pain
Study characteristics
Original
Placebo-Controlled
Single-Blind
Within-Subject
Bio/Neuro
Participants
20
Humans
Compound Details
The psychedelics given at which dose and how many times
LSD 75 μg | 1x
?>