Ketamine relieves pain without 'disconnecting' consciousness, study finds
An imaging study in humans led by Tel Aviv University's Institute for Psychedelic Research, in collaboration with TAU-affiliated Tel Aviv Medical Center (Ichilov), found that the pain relief provided by ketamine does not result from the sense of dissociation—a detachment from oneself, body or surroundings, induced by the drug. The findings, indicating that pain relief and the effect on…
A recently conducted human imaging study, led by Tel Aviv University's Institute for Psychedelic Research and conducted in collaboration with Tel Aviv Medical Center, has revealed that ketamine's pain-relieving effects are independent of the drug's dissociative properties. The research, published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, challenges the prevailing assumption that the two effects are related.
The study involved 37 healthy volunteers who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while receiving either ketamine or a placebo during controlled pain and dissociation-inducing stimuli. Despite ketamine increasing the sensation of detachment, the study found no correlation between dissociation and pain relief. Instead, the researchers discovered that ketamine-induced pain relief was linked to reduced activity in brain regions responsible for processing pain, whereas dissociation correlated with changes in the default mode network, which is involved in self-perception.
Dr. Noam Goldway, who led the study, highlighted that the findings could pave the way for developing treatments that harness ketamine's pain-relieving benefits while minimizing its psychological side effects.
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