Ketamine’s mechanism of action was assessed using gamma power from magnetoencephalography (MEG) as a proxy measure for homeostatic balance in 35 unmedicated subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 25 healthy controls enrolled in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized cross-over trial of 0.5 mg/kg ketamine. MDD subjects showed significant improvements in depressive symptoms,...
Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2018;40:110 Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry 00000000-0002-7316-1185 | doi:10.1590/1516-4446-2017-2380 Singh et al. reported that two or three weekly 40 min i.v. infusions of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) are safe and effective for maintaining an acute response to ketamine during one month of treatment for resistant depression (TRD). We present herein the results of an open label...
Biological PsychiatryFebruary 23, 2018Alessia Mastrodonato, Randy Martinez, Ina P. Pavlova et al.
BACKGROUND We previously reported that a single injection of ketamine prior to stress protects against the onset of depressive-like behavior and attenuates learned fear. However, the molecular pathways and brain circuits underlying ketamine-induced stress resilience are still largely unknown. METHODS Here, we tested if prophylactic ketamine administration altered neural activity in the...
The purpose of this commentary is to provide an introduction to this special issue of Neuropharmacology with a historical perspective of psychedelic drug research, their use in psychiatric disorders, research-restricting regulatory controls, and their recent emergence as potential breakthrough therapies for several brain-related disorders. It begins with the discovery of lysergic acid...
Abstract Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent conditions in psychiatry. Patients who do not respond to traditional monoaminergic antidepressant treatments have an especially difficult-to-treat type of MDD termed treatment-resistant depression. Subanesthetic doses of ketamine—a glutamatergic modulator—have shown great promise for rapidly treating patients with the most...
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is one of the most potent psychoactive agents known, producing dramatic alterations of consciousness after submilligram (≥20 μg) oral doses. Following the accidental discovery of its potent psychoactive effects in 1943, it was supplied by Sandoz Laboratories as an experimental drug that might be useful as an adjunct for psychotherapy, or to give psychiatrists...
Recently, the increased prevalence of depression largely affects people's quality life and raises social suicide rate. Meanwhile, depression has been reported associated with lipid abnormalities, one of the major risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. 1 Hence, the improvement of lipid metabolism is of critical for depressive patients' health care. Meditation, an ancient mind training to...
This study aimed to determine the feasibility of a resident-led resiliency curriculum developed by residents, for residents. The Stress Management and Resiliency Training Program for Residents (SMART-R) is a 6-h group-based curriculum that teaches meditation, behavioral skills, and positive perspective-taking strategies. SMART-R was implemented for all medicine and psychiatry interns at a large...
Between 2% and 8% of college students meet criteria for ADHD, with increased incidence in recent decades. There are very few clinical trials conducted on the meaningful intervention of ADHD in college. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) effectively treats college students with ADHD and could be more feasibly applied in college mental health clinics. Fifty-four undergraduates with ADHD...
A considerable proportion of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) entering pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) report psychological distress, which is often accompanied by poor physical health status. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has been shown to improve psychological and physical outcomes in other chronic diseases. We therefore evaluated the efficacy of MBCT as...