Citations for Claims and Further Research
I neglected to cite to defend some of my claims about areas of the brain that ibotenic acid may affect. I will continue to leave more links here as the science progresses, including to correct anything new that might arise that differs from what I claim in the book.
That ibotenic acid affects the cholinergic receptors in the brain:
it uses the glutamate receptors to affect acetylcholine. See the last figure, flow chart before the conclusion here:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2016.00028/full
Also, if they are causing lesions by injection through the cholinergic pathways, it is affecting the cholinergic pathways, as discussed here, with the opening statements:
The neurotoxic effects produced by ibotenic acid (IA) induced chemical lesions of the central nervous system (CNS) cholinergic system were examined on the opioid peptidergic system in adult rats. Forebrain cholinergic systems were bilaterally lesioned by the infusion of IA (1 or 5 micrograms/site) into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM). One week after the injections, the animals were sacrificed, and activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and concentrations of beta-endorphin (beta-End) and Met-enkephalin (Met-Enk) were measured in different brain regions.
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1995-36006-001
The major effects that we know of from ibotenic acid are the spasms in both smooth and skeletal muscle in higher doses. Spasms are caused via the cholinergic pathways and diseases that cause spasms like parkinson’s and dystrophies etc are diseases of the cholinergic pathways.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526134/
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11062-005-0034-2
At least this study is promising looking forward. Injection into the body, not brain and shows no brain lesioning. This is in rats, not humans and this in injection, not oral. Still a ways to go: