Ketamine as a primary predictor of out-of-body experiences associated with multiple substance use
Leanne K. Wilkins, Todd A. Girard, J. Allan Cheyne
Consciousness and Cognition February 16, 2011 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2011.01.005 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 192 |
| Population | Online survey respondents |
| Topics | Ketamine Esketamine |
| Keywords | Neurochemical Dissociative Neuropsychology Clinical psychology Cognition |
| Citations | 57 |
| Key findings | Lifetime frequency of ketamine use and OBEs during ketamine intoxication were more strongly related to the frequency of OBEs and related phenomena than other drugs. |
Abstract
Investigation of "out-of-body experiences" (OBEs) has implications for understanding both normal bodily-self integration and its vulnerabilities. Beyond reported associations between OBEs and specific brain regions, however, there have been few investigations of neurochemical systems relevant to OBEs. Ketamine, a drug used recreationally to achieve dissociative experiences, provides a real-world paradigm for investigating neurochemical effects. We investigate the strength of the association of OBEs and ketamine use relative to other common drugs of abuse. Self-report data (N=192) from an online survey indicate that both lifetime frequency of ketamine use and OBEs during ketamine intoxication were more strongly related to the frequency of OBEs and related phenomena than other drugs. Moreover, the apparent effects of other drugs could largely be explained by associated ketamine use. The present results, consistent with the role of NMDA receptors in OBEs, should encourage future studies of the role of neurochemical systems in OBEs.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on ketamine, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-Year Trends in Use of Hallucinogens and Other Adjunct Drugs among UK Dance Drug Users People who use drugs in dance contexts | 2006 | Repeated-measures cross-sectional survey | |
| Preliminary analysis of positive and negative syndrome scale in ketamine-associated psychosis in comparison with schizophrenia Healthy subjects, ketamine abusers, and schizophrenia patients | 2014 | Cross-sectional study | n = 998 |
| Self-reported prevalence of dependence of MDMA compared to cocaine, mephedrone and ketamine among a sample of recreational poly-drug users Global non-treatment-seeking sample of last year users of MDMA, cocaine, mephedrone,... | 2014 | Cross-sectional survey | |
| Near-Death States Reported in a Sample of 50 Misusers Previous ketamine misusers who reported a ketamine-related near-death experience | 2010 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 50 |
| Trends in drug use among nightclub and festival attendees in New York City, 2017-2022. Adults entering randomly selected electronic dance music parties at nightclubs and... | 2023 | Repeated cross-sectional survey | n = 3,237 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 29
- Disturbances in body ownership in schizophrenia: evidence from the rubber hand illusion and case study of a spontaneous out-of-body experience. PLoS One June 10, 2016
- The Experience Elicited by Hallucinogens Presents the Highest Similarity to Dreaming within a Large Database of Psychoactive Substance Reports Frontiers in Neuroscience January 22, 2018
- Neurochemical models of near-death experiences: A large-scale study based on the semantic similarity of written reports. Consciousness and Cognition March 1, 2019
- Voluntary Out-of-Body Experience: An fMRI Study Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
- Characteristics of memories for near-death experiences Consciousness and Cognition March 19, 2017
and 24 more in the library
Cites 15
- Out‐of‐body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin Brain January 15, 2004
- Linking Out-of-Body Experience and Self Processing to Mental Own-Body Imagery at the Temporoparietal Junction Journal of Neuroscience January 19, 2005
- The Out-of-Body Experience: Disturbed Self-Processing at the Temporo-Parietal Junction The Neuroscientist January 4, 2005
- Out-of-body experience, heautoscopy, and autoscopic hallucination of neurological origin Brain Research Reviews July 13, 2005
- The body unbound: Vestibular–motor hallucinations and out-of-body experiences Cortex June 6, 2008
and 10 more in the library