A NEW DRUG CAUSING SYMPTOMS OF SENSORY DEPRIVATION Neurological, Electroencephalographic and Pharmalogical Effects of Sernyl

Abstract

Neurological, eeg and pharmacological data were presented on over 100 individuals who have been treated with Sernyl, a drug that appears to exert a blocking action on the thalamus and midbrain. This drug eventually produces a blocking of all forms of sensation with pain sensation disappearing first. Motor movement is not impaired, except for ataxia, until the patient becomes unconscious. Blood pressure and reflexes are increased and vertical nystagmus appears with high dosage of the drug. Early and sometimes prolonged symptoms appear that are similar to those reported in sensory deprivation studies; namely, anxiety, illusional, delusional and hallucinatory phenomena with a feeling of displacement. Interference with thinking processes is an early complaint. It is concluded that Sernyl produces a "centrally mediated" sensory-deprivation syndrome.