Journal of Near-Death Studies
March 1, 1997
R. Strassman
This commentary on Karl Jansen's ketamine model for the near-death experience expands upon and raises additional questions about several issues and hypotheses: self-experimentation as a source of data; ketamine's similarities to and differences from classical hallucinogens; the need for quantification of unusual subjective states; clinical research and toxicological implications of this model;...
Journal of Near-Death Studies
March 1, 1997
K. Jansen
Near-death experiences (NDEs) can be reproduced by ketamine via blockade of receptors in the brain for the neurotransmitter glutamate, the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Conditions that precipitate NDEs, such as hypoxia, ischemia, hypoglycemia, and temporal lobe epilepsy, have been shown to release a flood of glutamate, overactivating NMDA receptors and resulting in neurotoxicity....
Depression and Anxiety
1997
J. Silvestre, R. Nadal, M. Pallarés et al.
Although noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists have shown an anxiolyticlike profile in several studies, such effects have not been observed consistently. Previous studies with ketamine, a noncompetitive NMDA antagonist, have employed only shock tests of anxiety based on conflict procedures. In the present experiment, the effect of an acute low dose of ketamine (7 mg/kg) was examined in adult...
Journal of Near-Death Studies
1997
Karl Jansen
3 citations
The commentators on my paper raised several interesting is sues. Set and setting do influence drug effects, but they also influence near death experiences (NDEs). Some NDEs are very anxiety-generating, just like some ketamine experiences, though frightening NDEs have been ignored by most researchers. High frequency, compulsive ketamine use is rare. While dimethyltryptamine (DMT) may induce...
Journal of Near-Death Studies
1997
Antonio Bianchi
1 citation
Although ketamine can induce a state similar to a near-death experience (NDE), there is a striking difference between experiences induced by ketamine used in a recreational context and in an operating room. Ketamine is a noncompetitive antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, as is ibogaine, the main alkaloid of a shrub used in Central Africa to induce NDEs in a religious context....
Journal of Psychiatric Research
September 1, 1996
D J LaPorte, Adrienne C. Lahti, B Koffel et al.
Glutamatergic dysfunction may play an important role in both the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, and impaired memory commonly observed in that disorder. NMDA receptor antagonists impair learning/memory in animal models, putatively based on its ability to block long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. Although well studied in animal models, research in humans is limited and confounded...
BMJ
August 17, 1996
David Shewan, Phil Dalgarno, Leslie A. King
14 citations
EDITOR,—There is increasing concern over the toxic1 and neurodegenerative2 effects of ecstasy, and further research is clearly required. Potential hazards can also, however, arise through use of tablets sold as ecstasy that contain substances other than ecstasy, such as ketamine. Ketamine is an anaesthetic agent with a rapid action that has medical and veterinary applications. Drug users who...
European Journal of Pharmacology
July 1, 1996
A H Jerram, P F Smith, C L Darlington
Although behavioural studies of the effects of (+/-)-N-allylnormetazocine ((+)-SKF10047) and ketamine hydrochloride have been conducted in many species, there are no data available on their effects in guinea pig. The aim of the present study was to provide an analysis of the effects of these drugs on stereotyped behaviour, locomotor activity, ataxia and righting reflex latency in guinea pigs....
Drug and Alcohol Review
June 1, 1996
J M White, C F Ryan
Ketamine is a dissociative anaesthetic that is being used in non-medical contexts. The effects of ketamine are very similar to those of phencyclidine, another dissociative anaesthetic that has enjoyed considerable popularity as a recreational drug. The effects of ketamine include analgesia, cardiovascular and respiratory stimulation, dissociation, hallucinations and anaesthesia. The potential...
Neuropsychopharmacology
May 1996
A K Malhotra, D A Pinals, H Weingartner et al.
A rapidly growing body of preclinical data has implicated the glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor in memory and other cognitive processes. There is comparatively less information about this receptor system in human cognition. We examined the effects of subanesthetic doses of ketamine, a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist, on two forms of memory, free recall and recognition,...