Ketamine as a primary predictor of out-of-body experiences associated with multiple substance use
Consciousness and Cognition February 16, 2011 Leanne K. Wilkins, Todd A. Girard, J. Allan Cheyne 57 citations
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are linked to specific brain regions, but little is known about the neurochemical systems involved. Ketamine, a drug that produces dissociative effects, offers a way to study this. An online survey of 192 people found that both how often someone had used ketamine in their lifetime and whether they had OBEs while on ketamine were more strongly tied to how often they had OBEs and related experiences than other drugs were. The apparent effects of other drugs could mostly be explained by the fact that people who used them also tended to use ketamine. These findings suggest NMDA receptors play a role in OBEs.