[3][4] Like apomorphine, it is reported to be an inhibitor of amyloid beta protein (Aβ) fiber formation, whose presence is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

[6] A psychiatrist at Tulane University named Robert Heath carried out experiments on prisoners at the Louisiana State Penitentiary using bulbocapnine to induce stupor.

[7] This work at Tulane inspired, and was continued parallel to, experiments carried out at the behest of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The bulbocapnine work Heath conducted for the government was one component of a large investigation into the potential of psychoactive compounds as aids to interrogation.

[8] It can induce catalepsy featuring the curious symptom of waxy flexibility[9] and the state produced by the drug has been compared to Akinetic mutism.