Psychological Effects of (S)-Ketamine and N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT): A Double-Blind, Cross-Over Study in Healthy Volunteers
Pharmacopsychiatry November 1, 2005 E. Gouzoulis-Mayfrank, K. Heekeren, A. Neukirch et al. 198 citations
Two classes of hallucinogenic drugs model different aspects of schizophrenia-like symptoms. In a double-blind crossover study, fifteen healthy volunteers received both the serotonin 5-HT2A agonist DMT and the glutamate NMDA antagonist (S)-ketamine. Nine subjects completed both sessions. DMT produced stronger positive symptoms resembling schizophrenia, such as formal thought disorder and inappropriate affect. (S)-ketamine produced stronger negative symptoms, attention deficits, body perception disturbances, and catatonia-like motor phenomena. The findings suggest neither drug model is overall superior; rather, each models distinct symptom profiles: DMT models paranoid-type psychoses, while (S)-ketamine models psychoses with prominent negative and catatonic features.