Quantitative electroencephalographic analysis of naturally occurring (schizophrenic) and drug‐induced psychotic states in human males

Analysis of the quantified electroencephalogram of the left occipital lead (Drohocki's integrative method) of 21 normal male subjects revealed an average coefficient of variation in electrical energy of 15.4 per cent. In 25 male chronic schizophrenic patients, the mean coefficient of variation was 8 per cent. Placebo administration did not produce any significant change in either group. In the normal men, oral dosage with 0.3 p.g per kilogram of D‐N, N diethyllysergamide (lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD‐25) produced a 33 per cent decrease in variability without significant change in the mean energy content of the electroencephalogram. When the dose of lysergic acid diethylamide was increased to 1 p.g per kilogram, a 25 per cent decrease in variability and 23 per cent reduction of the energy content of the electroencephalogram followed. In schizophrenic patients, lysergic acid diethylamide at 1 μg per kilogram orally did not affect the mean energy content but produced a 47 per cent increase in variability. The findings indicate that the electroencephalogram of male institutionalized chronic schizophrenics tends to be hyperregulated. Similar hyperregulation is produced in normal volunteers by threshold and larger doses of lysergic acid diethylamide.