Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic developed in the 1960s, is experiencing a resurgence as a treatment for depression and pain. Unlike standard antidepressants that target monoamine systems, ketamine works by modulating glutamate, a key neurotransmitter, and enhancing synaptic plasticity. It shows rapid antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant depression and effectiveness for both acute and chronic pain. However, significant concerns remain about long-term safety, lack of standardized protocols, and potential for misuse. This review examines ketamine's expanding roles in anesthesia, psychiatry, and pain medicine, highlighting its mechanisms, clinical uses, safety issues, and gaps in current evidence.
Prostration (Sajdah), a forward-flexed posture with forehead contact, is an embodied contemplative practice that may modulate prefrontal-limbic brain circuits, increase parasympathetic activity, and produce characteristic cortical oscillatory patterns. This narrative review of neuroimaging, electrophysiological, and autonomic studies suggests that such posture-based practices can reduce cognitive load, enhance emotional regulation, and improve attentional stability. The findings point to the potential of posture-based contemplative practices for modulating brain-body interactions, though further investigation is needed.