Schizophrenia: A New Approach

In the April, 1952 issue of this journal, Osmond and Smythies (47) suggested that schizophrenia might be caused by a defect in adrenaline metabolism. They called this hypothetical adrenaline derivative “M-substance” because they endowed it with mescaline-like psychotomimetic qualities but with an effective potency nearer that of adrenaline or even the hugely powerful LSD-25. They showed that mescaline and adrenaline were sufficiently alike chemically for such an intermediate to be at least imaginable. In addition, they emphasized that the mescaline experience and the more acute and dramatic forms of schizophrenia have many similarities. They hoped that researchers would hunt diligently for our M-substance.