Serotonin and LSD
Most drugs act on the nervous system at the synapse, the functional connection between two nerve cells. Here some drugs excite nerve activity alJd others inhibit it. The normal brain chemical that transfers the nerve impulses across a synapse is called "serotonin." In its chemical makeup LSD closely resembles the serotonin molecule and this similarity is thought to be related to LSD's power. One theory holds that the LSD molecule can "fool" a nerve cell into accepting it as an impulse-carrying serotonin molecule, but that the signals get altered, since LSD capnot forward impulses in the same manner. For one thing, the drug t1ppears to increase the number of impulses, hence amplifying sensations, which are 'exaggerated in the extreme, for exaraple. an uncontrollable kaleidoscope of brilliant colors. For some people the effects of the drug rarely stop here; they become terrorized by the agony of a "bad trip." There are instances where the effects of LSD make subjects imagine themselves so indestructible that they may walk into a moving car; others believing they can fly have jumped from windows.
