Managing patients with both chronic pain and major depressive disorder is challenging, and many do not benefit adequately from standard medications. A retrospective review of cases explored patient satisfaction and tolerability of a novel virtual reality protocol used alongside intravenous ketamine infusions. Pain scores on a visual analogue scale were significantly lower on the third treatment day than on the first. Depression ratings also improved after infusions and across sessions. Two-thirds of patients preferred having virtual reality with their ketamine infusion. The findings suggest potential for combination therapy, but prospective studies are needed to confirm any synergistic benefit.
Recreational use of the club drug 5-MeO-DIPT (Foxy) has increased, but its neurobiological effects are poorly understood. In this animal study, adolescent rats received repeated injections of 10 mg/kg of 5-MeO-DIPT, MDMA, or saline. As adults, they were trained for 30 days on a nonmonotonic serial learning task involving food pellets. Control rats distinguished among the series elements, but tracking performance in both drug-treated groups improved with training yet after 30 days was not markedly different from that of rats with hippocampal or prefrontal cortex lesions. The findings suggest that compromised serotoninergic systems from adolescent drug exposure impair cognitive processes in appetitive serial learning.