Researchers from Trinity and St Patrick’s Mental Health Services are trialling a new treatment regime using ketamine for people who are experiencing severe depression.
The researchers also found that the drug increased the complexity of only certain brain states, known as segregated brain states.
Analytical Cannabis spoke to Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, director of the Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics, to learn more about its research ambitions.
The new study examined structural changes in the brain that might explain psilocybin’s enduring antidepressant effects.
Ketamine can provide rapid antidepressant relief in as little as two hours that can be sustained for days to weeks.
Results from a new clinical trial indicate that inhaling a mixture of 25 percent nitrous oxide and oxygen can provide long-lasting relief to those who have found other antidepressants ineffective.
The survey also found that 75 percent of respondents now support cannabis legalization for all purposes, with just 5 percent opposed to both recreational and medical legalization.
The use of MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has now proven itself in its first phase 3 clinical trial.
Crucially, the scientists say, the benefits of the drug came without the cost of hallucinations, a side effect which may aggravate stress.