
Acute Effects of LSD on Amygdala Activity During Processing of Fearful Stimuli - dpflan
https://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v7/n4/full/tp201754a.html
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itchyjunk
So if I am reading this right, LSD reduced fearful reactions. I initially mis-
read it as a correlation between LSD and fear.

Part of the reason psychedelics is kept away from treatment is because of
those occasional bad reactions. You never know who might get a bad trip and
for what reason. I wish psychedelics were researched without the baggage of
"possible treatment". This would allow for the study for it's own sake, imho.

If anyone is interested in reading some first time experiences of random first
time users here is a link. [0]

\-------------------

[0]
[https://erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_LSD_First_Times.shtm...](https://erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_LSD_First_Times.shtml)

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rubatuga
Definitely agree with you about the possibility of an unexpected reaction: I
had to experience my friend losing touch with reality, taking off his clothes,
running around my dormitory almost naked, and finally pulling the fire alarm.
He was last seen that day being handcuffed and put into an ambulance. In case
you're wondering, he took about 200 ug of real LSD.

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jlg23
200ug are a pretty high dose[1], 10 to 20 times the threshold and your
friend's reaction is not really typical even for a bad trip: In most cases
people just want to reduce the amount of auditory or visual input they have to
process when it is too much - so nothing like starting a fire alarm. Are you
sure it was LSD?

[1]
[https://erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_dose.shtml](https://erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_dose.shtml)

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someonewhocar3s
200ug is not high...?

Starting a fire alarm etc. just means the guy was using the reduced inhibition
to go ballastic. Just stupid really. Don't go blame the stuff for that.

>400 is high. up to 150/200 is low - can function normally. between 200/400 is
hard to function normally. above 400 you really kinda can't, best just lie
down and let the colors wash over.

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fdsfsafasfdas
High for what barrier?

200µg is certainly enough to perceive the world radically differently—so, very
high to a sober person. However, it's very low on the scale of LSD you can
safely ingest.

Either way, the dude had more going on than an acid trip that day.

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samrendall
This is a little disappointing considering that their conclusions can be
summarized with the sentence "These data suggest that acute administration of
LSD modulates the engagement of brain regions that mediate emotional
processing". Not particularly surprising to anyone who has ever tried or read
anything about LSD

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digi_owl
Research 101 is about measuring and documenting results, even if they agree
with popular knowledge.

It is what separate anecdote from data.

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hprotagonist
I'd love to know how the trial could remain double blinded after
administration of the LSD or placebo...

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thisisforyou
The paper includes a caveat at the end: "Our study has several limitations.
First, although the trial was formally double-blinded, assignment to placebo
or LSD was unavoidably unblinded by the obvious psychedelic effects caused by
the dose used."

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jrowley
In some studies they use other drugs that illicit similar but different
feelings, e.g ecstasy

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dTal
FYI, the correct spelling is "elicit". "Illicit" means forbidden or illegal,
ironically in this context.

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jrowley
Haha whoops. Thank you for that!

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FullMtlAlcoholc
Interesting. I would have come to the oppisite conclusion, namely that lsd
would increase the response to fearful stimuli. It makes sense. My friends who
have had bad trips weren't triggered by fearful, external stimuli. They were
caused mostly by repressed emotions or thoughts that lsd or mushrooms brought
to the fore.

From my experience and observations, bad trips can be powerful experiences
that have a positive effect, forcing you to face that which you have hidden
away. Of course, it can be damaging as well.

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researching0
This may be interesting to those in this thread:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Drugs/comments/63p20e/why_billionai...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Drugs/comments/63p20e/why_billionaires_should_be_intrigued_by/)
(Why billionaires should be intrigued by psychedelic research)

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WhitneyLand
A commenter here said, _[this only measured a small chemical effect and did
not make any claims about real fear]_

Let me add some color for you, it's absolutely real. I predict the drug will
eventually be validated as one of the most powerful and useful therapeutic
substances discovered to date.

>>impaired recognition of fearful faces, while it did not significantly affect
recognition of neutral, happy and angry faces

This characterization is a bit misleading. Recognition of faces is not
impaired at all, recognition is also not impaired of some of your most
terrifying inner thoughts. Instead, you recognize them fine and are simply not
bothered because you perceive them in an unbiased, rational context.

>>exhibits some ‘empathogenic’ effects (such as increased openness and trust)

Some? I know, good medical science has to be conservative. However empathy,
emotional connection and understanding, can become almost savant like. I won't
give an example - too hard to offer an anecdote and not sound hyperbolic or
like an exaggerated account. How's this: I believe it to be significantly
understated.

>>positive long-term effects outlast acute pharmacological effects

Let that sink in. Who would believe taking an anti-depressant once could
change your life years later? They would not believe it, because like every
other mental health drug, anti-depressants can easily stop working (to the
degree they work at all) as soon as you stop taking them. This is not like
that. It's some kind of unusual mechanism that for reasons not yet entirely
clear, is just very different from other drugs.

I would ask that no one act on my opinion by using illegal drugs. I'm not
worried about liability, or even legality. The problem is simply that self-
administering street drugs comes with quite a bit of risk that for some
reason, a lot of people don't mind ignoring. Worst case you could be
intentionally poisoned as part of a scam and die. You could get the wrong
substance, for example fentanyl is unknowingly taken all the time, and again
easily die. You might somehow get the real thing, but precise dosing is
difficult enough that overdosing LSD is very common. Having the wrong dose
will not kill you, but the results can be bad enough many people feel like
death would have been an easier option. Some people believe that impurities
and imprecise dosing are responsible for a lot of what people describe as "bad
trips".

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M_Grey
I don't have a dog in this hunt, I will simply point out that people who have
used LSD have been claiming that it's pretty much magic, that everyone should
try it, etc... for decades. The very guarded initial ventures into real
research seem to be entirely secondary to the evangelical zeal of some people
who have taken the drug in question, and feel it's "essential".

Edit: I should point out that obviously, they could have reached this
conclusion because it _is_ that amazing, but a lot of people have ironclad
convictions about everything from drugs to religion after all. The research
should hopefully offer an answer that can be, frankly, believed.

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WhitneyLand
You suggest folly as a possible explanation, but there are a few problems with
the cogency of that.

1) You point to nothing in this paper, other research, my comment, or
contemporary comments of others to support that hypothesis.

2) The behavior you describe skeptically could match equally well a society
where most people live unaware of a great truth hidden to them, in part
because the government has made even acquiring information illegal.

In North Korea, a small minority whisper fantastical ideas that are difficult
to comprehend, let alone believe. Most of the world is not starving. Places
exist with untold self-determination. Our leader is not God. These people
often speak with an almost "evangelical zeal".

3) Do you see me doing thrill-seeker liquor store holdups with a "Born to
Lose" tattoo on my chest? Ok that was De Niro, but the point is how do you
explain people who do not fit the profile? I am not new age, spiritual, or
culturally connected to these ideas. I resent mysticism, super natural forces,
and magic.

Of course I accept the possibility of being wrong. But the little recent
research governments have allowed hasn't yet pointed to that. And until it
does how can I deny things that, while anecdotal, are based on first hand
observations?

Maybe we'll have solid data some day, if I'm wrong I'll buy you a beer.

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M_Grey
I'm pointing to a basic desire for evidence when presented with claims,
especially extraordinary ones, especially when presented with religious
fervor. That is all.

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parshimers
"Oh Amygdala, Oh Amygdala... Have mercy on the poor bastard!"

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rbanffy
In other words, the cure for fear is acid.

~~~
digi_owl
Possibly. but don't just go down a tab hoping to get rid of a phobia.

LSD is a key, not a door.

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rbanffy
That would never occur to me - I'm more interested on what would change in
political views if more people used LSD. Fear-driven politics have been
central to many changes in the past years. Maybe LSD could have spared us.

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mythrwy
I'm guessing people might perceive that politics is simply a manifestation of
ego games not dissimilar to hierarchical rituals of chimpanzees and this is
unlikely to change ever until human nature itself changes. Along with the
astonishingly unlikely glimmer of hope that human nature can in fact change.

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rbanffy
Or maybe the conscious decisions not to behave like chimps with alopecia ;-)

