Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was synthesized in 1938 and its psychoactive
effects discovered in 1943. It was used during the 1950s and 1960s as an experimental
drug in psychiatric research for producing so-called “experimental
psychosis” by altering neurotransmitter system and in psychotherapeutic procedures
(“psycholytic” and “psychedelic” therapy). From the mid 1960s, it
became an illegal drug of abuse with widespread use that continues today.
With the entry of new methods of research and better study oversight, scientific
interest in LSD has resumed for brain research and experimental treatments.
Due to the lack of any comprehensive review since the 1950s and
the widely dispersed experimental literature, the present review focuses on
all aspects of the pharmacology and psychopharmacology of LSD. A thorough
search of the experimental literature regarding the pharmacology of LSD
was performed and the extracted results are given in this review. (Psycho-)
pharmacological research on LSD was extensive and produced nearly 10,000
scientific papers. The pharmacology of LSD is complex and its mechanisms of
action are still not completely understood. LSD is physiologically well tolerated
and psychological reactions can be controlled in a medically supervised setting,
but complications may easily result from uncontrolled use by layman. Actually
there is new interest in LSD as an experimental tool for elucidating neural
mechanisms of (states of) consciousness and there are recently discovered
treatment options with LSD in cluster headache and with the terminally ill.
