Ketamine reduces the neural distinction between self- and other-produced affective touch - a double-blind placebo-controlled study
PsyArXiv March 23, 2023 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/w3ftk (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled within-subject study |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Ketamine |
| Topics | Esketamine Ketamine |
| Key points | Ketamine administration elicited dissociation and reduced neural activity associated with self-other distinction in the right temporoparietal cortex. The temporoparietal cortex showed higher connectivity to somatosensory cortex and insula during other-touch versus self-touch; ketamine augmented this difference, and the augmentation correlated with dissociation strength. |
Abstract
A coherent sense of self is crucial for social functioning and mental health. The N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist ketamine induces short-term dissociative experiences, modelling an altered state of self-perception. This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled within-subject study investigated the mechanisms for ketamine’s effects on the bodily sense of self. Participants received intravenous ketamine while performing self-touch and receiving touch by someone else during functional MRI – a previously established neural measure of self-other-distinction. Ketamine administration elicited dissociation and reduced neural activity associated with self-other-distinction in the right temporoparietal cortex. The temporoparietal cortex showed higher connectivity to somatosensory cortex and insula during other- compared to self-touch. This difference was augmented by ketamine, and correlated with dissociation strength. We demonstrate that disrupting the self-experience through ketamine-administration affects neural activity associated with self-other-distinction in a region involved in touch perception and social cognition, providing further evidence for the intricate relationship of the bodily self with the tactile sense.
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 2
Cites 15
- A Randomized Trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate Antagonist in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression Archives of General Psychiatry August 1, 2006
- The Predictive Coding Account of Psychosis. Biological Psychiatry May 25, 2018
- Efficacy and Safety of Flexibly Dosed Esketamine Nasal Spray Combined With a Newly Initiated Oral Antidepressant in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Randomized Double-Blind Active-Controlled Study American Journal of Psychiatry May 21, 2019
- Ketamine for chronic pain: risks and benefits British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology February 21, 2013
- Ketamine: a paradigm shift for depression research and treatment Neuron March 1, 2019
and 10 more in the library