Goodman Neil
Bioelectrostatics Research Centre, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
J Psychoactive Drugs. 2002 Jul-Sep;34(3):263-72. doi: 10.1080/02791072.2002.10399962.
This article aims to explore, through established scientific research and documented accounts of personal experience, the similarities between religious mystical experiences and some effects of D-lysergic diethylamide or LSD. LSD predominantly works upon the serotonergic (serotonin-using neurons) diffuse neuromodulatory system, which projects its axons to virtually all areas of the brain including the neocortex. By its normal action it modulates awareness of the environmental surroundings and filters a high proportion of this information before it can be processed, thereby only allowing the amount of information that is necessary for survival. LSD works to open this filter, and so an increased amount of somatosensory data is processed with a corresponding increase in what is deemed important. This article describes the effects and actions of LSD, and due to the similarities with the nondrug-induced mystical experience the author proposes that the two could have common modes of action upon the brain. This could lead to avenues of research into mysticism and a wealth of knowledge on consciousness and how we perceive the universe.
本文旨在通过既定的科学研究以及个人经历的记录，探索宗教神秘体验与麦角酸二乙酰胺（LSD）的某些效应之间的相似性。LSD主要作用于血清素能（使用血清素的神经元）弥散性神经调节系统，该系统将其轴突投射到大脑几乎所有区域，包括新皮层。通过其正常作用，它调节对环境周围的意识，并在信息被处理之前过滤掉很大一部分信息，从而只允许生存所需的信息量。LSD的作用是打开这个过滤器，因此更多的体感数据被处理，同时被认为重要的信息也相应增加。本文描述了LSD的效应和作用，由于与非药物诱导的神秘体验存在相似性，作者提出两者可能在大脑上具有共同的作用模式。这可能会为神秘主义研究开辟道路，并带来关于意识以及我们如何感知宇宙的丰富知识。
