Brain's Reaction To Potent Hallucinogen Salvia Explored

Brain-imaging studies performed in animals provide researchers with clues about why an increasingly popular recreational drug that causes hallucinations and motor-function impairment in humans is abused. Using trace amounts of Salvia divinorum -- also known as "salvia," a Mexican mint plant -- scientists found that the drug's behavior in the brains of primates mimics the extremely fast and brief "high" observed in humans.