ArticlePsychopharmacology2017
Dreamlike effects of LSD on waking imagery in humans depend on serotonin 2A receptor activation.
Article in Psychopharmacology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 180 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychedelic-assisted therapy for treating anxiety, depression, and existential distress in people with life-threatening diseases.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- The effects of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) on the Positive Valence Systems: A Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)-Informed Systematic Review.CNS drugs · 2023Pooled it
- A novel psychedelic 5-HTJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Trial
- Low-dose LSD and the stream of thought: Increased Discontinuity of Mind, Deep Thoughts and abstract flow.Psychopharmacology · 2022Trial
- Spontaneous and deliberate creative cognition during and after psilocybin exposure.Translational psychiatry · 2021Trial
- A low dose of lysergic acid diethylamide decreases pain perception in healthy volunteers.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2021Trial
- Acute dose-dependent effects of lysergic acid diethylamide in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in healthy subjects.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2021Trial
- Acute Subjective and Behavioral Effects of Microdoses of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in Healthy Human Volunteers.Biological psychiatry · 2019Trial
- Novel approaches in depression treatment: from rapid-acting antidepressants to personalized interventions.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Resetting the hippocampal buffer: a neurocognitive account of psychedelic therapy for anxiety-related psychopathology.Psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Speech markers of psychological change following a psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT retreat.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Mechanistic insights toward dissociating therapeutic from psychedelic effects: bridging the gap between psychedelic research and mental health care.Translational psychiatry · 2026Review
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- Lysergic acid diethylamide-derived excitatory/inhibitory ratio change enhances global synchrony in functional brain dynamics.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Psychedelics and autobiographical memory - six open questions.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- The psychedelic (-)-2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine [(-)-DOI] demonstrates efficacy in reducing cocaine reward and motivation in male rats.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Chronic Fluoxetine Treatment Desensitizes Serotoninergic Inhibition of GABAergic Inputs and Intrinsic Excitability of Dorsal Raphe Serotonin Neurons.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Assessing the effects of 5-HTPharmacological reports : PR · 2025Article
- Potential Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor Agonist of Psychoactive Components ofCurrent pharmaceutical biotechnology · 2025Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleAccumulating evidence indicates that the mixed serotonin and dopamine receptor agonist lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) induces an altered state of consciousness that resembles dreaming.
objectivesThis study aimed to test the hypotheses that LSD produces dreamlike waking imagery and that this imagery depends on 5-HT2A receptor activation and is related to subjective drug effects.
methodsTwenty-five healthy subjects performed an audiorecorded guided mental imagery task 7 h after drug administration during three drug conditions: placebo, LSD (100 mcg orally) and LSD together with the 5-HT2A receptor antagonist ketanserin (40 mg orally). Cognitive bizarreness of guided mental imagery reports was quantified as a standardised formal measure of dream mentation. State of consciousness was evaluated using the Altered State of Consciousness (5D-ASC) questionnaire.
resultsLSD, compared with placebo, significantly increased cognitive bizarreness (p < 0.001). The LSD-induced increase in cognitive bizarreness was positively correlated with the LSD-induced loss of self-boundaries and cognitive control (p < 0.05). Both LSD-induced increases in cognitive bizarreness and changes in state of consciousness were fully blocked by ketanserin.
conclusionsLSD produced mental imagery similar to dreaming, primarily via activation of the 5-HT2A receptor and in relation to loss of self-boundaries and cognitive control. Future psychopharmacological studies should assess the differential contribution of the D2/D1 and 5-HT1A receptors to cognitive bizarreness.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.