JNDS, Volume 16, Number 1
University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) Bianchi
Ketamine can produce experiences resembling near-death experiences (NDEs), but the nature of these experiences differs depending on the context—recreational use versus use in an operating room. Both ketamine and ibogaine, a substance used in Central African religious rituals to induce NDEs, are noncompetitive antagonists of the NMDA receptor. Ibogaine also elicits different experiences based on whether it is used in a hallucinatory context or in initiatic rituals that induce a superficial coma. These observations raise the question of whether the chemically-induced NDE-like experience stems from the specific substance or from the genuine comatose state itself.