Balancing the Risks: Is Olneys Research Relevant to DXM Use?
Obviously there are still a lot of questions to be answered. The most important for human users of dissociatives is whether this type of damage can occur at recreational levels, and if so, what can be done about it. Let’s review the evidence both for and against Olney’s lesions in human users of dissociatives. First, the evidence for. The posterior cingulate and retrosplenial cortex (PC and RC) are involved in skills which seem to be impaired in regular users of dissociatives. Olney’s lesions occur at doses several times the recreational dose, but that’s at one dose of the drug; repeated doses of lower amounts may cause the same damage. Olney’s lesions are also only generally visible when large numbers of cells are destroyed, and they’re significant enough to be visible under the microscope. Finally, conditions which increase the likelihood of Olney’s lesions, such as less than ideal blood circulation to the brain, large amounts of glucose (like that found in cough syrup), concurrent u
