The Altered-State-of-Consciousness Aspect of a Feeling of Lightness Is Reported to Be Associated with Antidepressant Benefits by Depressed Individuals Receiving Ketamine Infusions: A Systematic Analysis of Internet Video Testimonials

Stocker, Kurt; Hasler, Gregor; Hartmann, Matthias

doi:10.1159/000497441

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our response rate of 34.6% was slightly lower than previously reported, possibly because we defined treatment resistance as non-response to at least three different treatments. We found a high correlation of r = 0.832 (p < 0.001) between symptom reductions after 24 h and after 7 days, suggesting that antidepressant effects were sustained and not identical with ketamine's acute alterations of self-perception and consciousness (Stocker et al, 2019). This finding indicates that clinical response after 24 h is an important predictor of clinical response after 7 days.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Sustained Improvement of Negative Self-Schema After a Single Ketamine Infusion: An Open-Label Study

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conventional antidepressants have several important limitations, including a lack of direct effects on negative self-schema, which is at the core of Beck's cognitive theory of depression. Based on previous studies showing a positive effect of ketamine on negative cognition, we compared reductions in negative self-schema between responders and non-responders to a single infusion of ketamine. In an open-label study, 26 participants with treatment-resistant depression received 0.5 mg/kg ketamine via infusion. Depression symptoms were assessed at baseline, 24 h, and 7 days after treatment with Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Nine of the 26 participants fulfilled response criteria after 24 h. Of these, eight still fulfilled response criteria after 7 days. Response was defined as a reduction in MADRS total score of 50% or more. Responders improved significantly more than non-responders both 24 h and 7 days after ketamine treatment on the following BDI-II items: item 1 ("Sadness"), item 7 ("Self-Dislike"), and item 8 ("Self-Criticalness"). These results suggest an important therapeutic effect of ketamine on negative self-schema, which is a fundamental cognitive aspect of depression. This effect is unique and might be associated with ketamine's profound effects on neuroplasticity. Small sample size and lack of a placebo control group are the major limitations of this study.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Sustained Improvement of Negative Self-Schema After a Single Ketamine Infusion: An Open-Label Study

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The HMS score, but not the CADSS score, was found to mediate the effect of ketamine on the motivation to quit cocaine on the following day. In another interesting approach, Stocker et al [128] screened 62 YouTube videos of depressed patients narrating their subjective experience of receiving ketamine and found that 27.4% of the individuals reported an experience of floating that they associated with the amelioration of their depressive symptoms. The connection between treatment response and the floating sensation was subsequently investigated in a double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled clinical trial, which concluded that the two were not associated [129].…”

Section: Psychoactive Effects and The Therapeutic Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ketamine—50 years in use: from anesthesia to rapid antidepressant effects and neurobiological mechanisms

Kohtala

2021

Pharmacol. Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the past 50 years, ketamine has solidified its position in both human and veterinary medicine as an important anesthetic with many uses. More recently, ketamine has been studied and used for several new indications, ranging from chronic pain to drug addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder. The discovery of the rapid-acting antidepressant effects of ketamine has resulted in a surge of interest towards understanding the precise mechanisms driving its effects. Indeed, ketamine may have had the largest impact for advancements in the research and treatment of psychiatric disorders in the past few decades. While intense research efforts have been aimed towards uncovering the molecular targets underlying ketamine’s effects in treating depression, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain elusive. These efforts are made more difficult by ketamine’s complex dose-dependent effects on molecular mechanisms, multiple pharmacologically active metabolites, and a mechanism of action associated with the facilitation of synaptic plasticity. This review aims to provide a brief overview of the different uses of ketamine, with an emphasis on examining ketamine’s rapid antidepressant effects spanning molecular, cellular, and network levels. Another focus of the review is to offer a perspective on studies related to the different doses of ketamine used in antidepressant research. Finally, the review discusses some of the latest hypotheses concerning ketamine’s action.

show abstract

“…Consideration of alternative neuropharmacological mechanisms could thus prove informative not only for further elucidating the role of serotonin in the intricate connection between the bodily self and cognition, but also hold potential relevance for clinical practice. Several clinical trials using psychedelics and other psychotropic substances Stocker, Hasler, & Hartmann, 2019) have evinced impressive and often persistent improvements in mental disorders that are characterized by aberrant forms of the bodily self (Fuchs & Schlimme, 2009). Yet, despite the frequently reported alterations in bodily self-awareness through psychedelics, and their profound † The metaphysics of the self are still very controversially discussed; however, for the sake of this article, we use the term 'self' referring to a self-model (Hohwy & Michael, 2018) that is created through integration of low-level multisensory information that is contrasted against top down priors in a predictive coding manner.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuropharmacological modulation of the aberrant bodily self through psychedelics

Preller

Lenggenhager

2020

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As a continual source of sensory input and fundamental component of self-referential processing, the body holds an integral modulatory role in cognition. In a healthy state, predictive coding of multisensory integration promotes the construction of a coherent self. However, several psychiatric disorders comprise aberrant perceptions of the bodily self that are purported to involve discrepancies in the integration and updating of multisensory systems. Changes in functional connectivity of somatomotor and high-level association networks in these disorders could be successfully remediated through 5-HT2A receptor agonism via psychedelics. Reported alterations of bodily self-awareness during psychedelic experiences allude to a potentially central role of the bodily self. In this article, we bridge the domains of (aberrant) bodily self-awareness and psychedelics by discussing the predictive coding mechanisms underlying the bodily self and psychedelics. Furthermore, we propose that psychedelically-induced desynchronization of predictive coding might involve modulation of somatomotor, sensorimotor, and high-level association networks that could remediate aberrant perceptions of the bodily self.

show abstract

The Altered-State-of-Consciousness Aspect of a Feeling of Lightness Is Reported to Be Associated with Antidepressant Benefits by Depressed Individuals Receiving Ketamine Infusions: A Systematic Analysis of Internet Video Testimonials

Cited by 16 publications

References 10 publications

Sustained Improvement of Negative Self-Schema After a Single Ketamine Infusion: An Open-Label Study

Sustained Improvement of Negative Self-Schema After a Single Ketamine Infusion: An Open-Label Study

Ketamine—50 years in use: from anesthesia to rapid antidepressant effects and neurobiological mechanisms

Neuropharmacological modulation of the aberrant bodily self through psychedelics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About