For decades, ketamine has mainly been used as an anaesthetic, but in more recent years, it’s gained popularity in mental health treatment.
Conversations around the benefits and risks associated with its therapeutic usage ignited towards the end of 2023, when actor Matthew Perry, star of the sitcom ‘Friends’, died from the acute effects of the ketamine he was using to treat anxiety.
In this episode of ‘Your Brain On…’, we discuss:
- The neurochemical mechanisms of ketamine, and its interplay with depression
- What we know about the opportunities and pitfalls of using ketamine in mental health treatment
- The potential for ketamine use in reducing the impacts of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
- How technology and improvements in passive and active data collection are helping us better understand how ketamine affects cognition and neuroplasticity
- The history of ketamine’s use as an antidepressant
- How ketamine is actually administered, through various dosages and courses of treatment
We’re welcoming two of the leading figures in this space to the podcast: Dr. Gerard Sanacora, who is a Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University and the Director of the Yale Depression Research Program, and Dr. John Krystal, also from Yale: a Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Psychology.
Watch highlights from our conversation with Dr. John Krystal below, and then try the crossword!
