A further effect of the use of LSD has been discovered. As a result of scanning the brains of those taking it, it appears there is less sectioning of data, and the brain acts more like the mind of a baby. Researchers at Imperial College London have found that unlike the brain of someone not using the drug, the brain of a user will not have areas that deal with things such as movement, vision and hearing, but will instead work in a more unified way.
The brain returns to the state it was in when a person was young, meaning that it is free, and the user can also show the heightened emotions that are shown by children. This is the view of the leader of the study Robin Cahart-Harris. The results have recently been produced and are in the PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Success Journal. Further information provided showed that when LSD was taken, areas other than the visual cortex played a part in visual processing. This being the case, it is a perfect explanation for the presence of hallucinations when under the influence.
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Users were also said to have a feeling of well-being after the hallucinations had finished and it is hoped that some of the compounds will be able to help treat people with psychiatric disorders. The experiments used volunteers, and some were given LSD, some a placebo. Brain scans were carried out and resulted analyzed. Scientists have also been able to study electrical activity and blood flow through the brain.