Ketamine Analgesia and Psychedelia: Can We Dissociate Dissociation?

Ketamine produces analgesia, psychedelic effects, and dissociation, but it is unclear whether these effects stem from a single mechanism or separate ones. An accompanying study by Olofsen et al. attempts to disentangle the antinociceptive (pain-relieving) and psychedelic properties of ketamine. The editorial discusses the drug's history and its varied uses as an anesthetic, analgesic, antidepressant, and psychotomimetic, questioning whether these psychoactive properties are reducible to a fundamental cause or represent dissociable traits with distinct mechanisms.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Editorial| May 2022 Ketamine Analgesia and Psychedelia: Can We Dissociate Dissociation? George A. Mashour, M.D., Ph.D. George A. Mashour, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Author and Article Information Accepted for publication February 11, 2022. Published online first on March 18, 2022. This editorial accompanies the article on p. 792. Address correspondence to Dr. Mashour: Anesthesiology May 2022, Vol. 136, 675–677. https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000004172 Connected Content Article: Ketamine Psychedelic and Antinociceptive Effects Are Connected Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Cite Icon Cite Get Permissions Search Site Citation George A. Mashour; Ketamine Analgesia and Psychedelia: Can We Dissociate Dissociation?. Anesthesiology 2022; 136:675–677 doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000004172 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll PublicationsAnesthesiology Search Advanced Search Topics: analgesia (pain absence), dissociation, ketamine, pain management Ketamine is arguably the most interesting drug in our armamentarium. Depending on the dose and setting, ketamine can be used as an anesthetic, analgesic, antidepressant, psychedelic, or psychotomimetic (e.g., to model psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia). But what is the interrelationship of these psychoactive properties? Are they all reducible to a single and fundamental cause? Or do they represent a constellation of dissociable traits with distinct underlying mechanisms? In this issue of Anesthesiology, Olofsen et al. report a study that attempts to dissect the antinociceptive and psychedelic effects of ketamine.1 The story of ketamine (or CI-581, as it was then known) began in the 1960s, when it was synthesized as an analog to mitigate the profound and prolonged emergence of delirium associated with phencyclidine. Clinical pharmacologist Dr. Edward Domino and anesthesiologist Dr. Guenter Corssen, two faculty members at the University of Michigan Medical School (Ann Arbor,... You do not currently have access to this content.