The incidence of unpleasant dreams after sub-anaesthetic ketamine.
Mark Blagrove, Celia J. A. Morgan, Helen Valerie Curran, Leslie Bromley, Brigitte Brandner
Psychopharmacology March 1, 2009 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-008-1377-3 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 30 |
| Population | Healthy volunteers |
| Intervention | Ketamine |
| Dose | sub-anaesthetic dose |
| Duration | Three nights after infusion |
| Topics | Esketamine Ketamine |
| Key findings | Ketamine causes significantly more unpleasant dreams over the three nights after administration compared to placebo. |
Abstract
Ketamine is an N-methyl-D: -aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist with psychotogenic effects and for which there are diverse reports of whether pleasant or unpleasant dreams result during anaesthesia, post-operatively or after sub-anaesthetic use. To assess in healthy volunteers the incidence of unpleasant dreams over the three nights after receiving a sub-anaesthetic dose of ketamine, in comparison to placebo, and with retrospective home nightmare frequency as a covariate. Thirty healthy volunteers completed questionnaires about retrospective home dream recall and were then given either ketamine (n = 19, males = 9, mean age = 23.5 years; mean ketamine blood plasma = 175.29 ng/mL) or placebo (n = 11, males = 5, mean age = 25.4 years). Dream recall and pleasantness/unpleasantness of dream content were recorded by questionnaire at home for the three nights after infusion. Ketamine resulted in significantly more mean dream unpleasantness relative to placebo and caused a threefold increase in the odds ratio for the incidence of an unpleasant dream. The number of dreams reported over the three nights did not differ between the groups. The incidence of unpleasant dreams after ketamine use was predicted by retrospectively assessed nightmare frequency at home. Ketamine causes unpleasant dreams over the three post-administration nights. This may be evidence of a residual psychotogenic effect that is not found on standard self-report symptomatology measures or a result of disturbed sleep electrophysiology.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on ketamine, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subanesthetic Effects of the Noncompetitive NMDA Antagonist, Ketamine, in Humans Healthy human subjects recruited from the community | 1994 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 19 |
| Antidepressant Efficacy of Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: A Two-Site Randomized Controlled Trial Patients with treatment-resistant major depression experiencing a major depressive episode | 2013 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |
| Remifentanil-induced Postoperative Hyperalgesia and Its Prevention with Small-dose Ketamine Patients undergoing major abdominal surgery | 2005 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 75 |
| Efficacy of Intravenous Ketamine for Treatment of Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Patients with chronic PTSD related to a range of trauma exposures | 2014 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Ketamine-Induced Deficits in Auditory and Visual Context-Dependent Processing in Healthy Volunteers Healthy volunteers | 2000 | Single-blind placebo-controlled study | n = 20 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 11
- Ketamine for chronic pain: risks and benefits British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology February 21, 2013
- The Montreal model: an integrative biomedical-psychedelic approach to ketamine for severe treatment-resistant depression Frontiers in Psychiatry September 19, 2023
- The Effect of Suggestion on Unpleasant Dreams Induced by Ketamine Administration Anesthesia & Analgesia February 25, 2011
- Repurposing Ketamine in Depression and Related Disorders: Can This Enigmatic Drug Achieve Success? Frontiers in Neuroscience April 30, 2021
- Acetylcholine and metacognition during sleep. Consciousness and Cognition 2024
and 6 more in the library
Cites 15
- Subanesthetic Effects of the Noncompetitive NMDA Antagonist, Ketamine, in Humans Archives of General Psychiatry March 1, 1994
- Measurement of dissociative states with the Clinician‐Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS) Journal of Traumatic Stress 1998
- Comparative and Interactive Human Psychopharmacologic Effects of Ketamine and Amphetamine Archives of General Psychiatry September 1, 2005
- Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Sleep 2002
- The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Journal of Sleep Research May 26, 2004
and 10 more in the library