Post by Tamrin on Aug 7, 2009 18:50:13 GMT 10
Using Ketamine to Induce
the Near-Death Experience
[Abstract - Article by Dr. Karl L. R. Jansen, lycaeum.org - Linked Above]
the Near-Death Experience
[Abstract - Article by Dr. Karl L. R. Jansen, lycaeum.org - Linked Above]
Near-death experiences (NDE's) can be induced using the dissociative drug ketamine. Advances in neuroscience have recently provided us with new insights as to the mechanisms involved at the mind -brain interface. On the 'brain' side, it is now clear that these NDE's are due to blockade of brain receptors (drug binding sites) for the neurotransmitter glutamate. These binding sites are called the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Conditions which precipitate NDE's (low oxygen, low blood flow, low blood sugar, temporal lobe epilepsy etc.) have been shown to release a flood of glutamate, over-activating NMDA receptors. This overactivation can kill brain cells ('excito' toxicity). Ketamine prevents excitotoxicity. Conditions which trigger a glutamate flood may also trigger a flood of ketamine-like brain chemicals which bind to NMDA receptors to protect cells, leading to an altered state of consciousness like that produced by ketamine. On the 'mind' side, induction of NDE's has psychotherapeutic value via several routes which will be explored in this article. To facilitate reading, in some cases references have been grouped together at the end of a paragraph.
The near-death experience (NDE) is a phenomenon of wide general interest. Despite its association with sensationalist media reports, populist books of doubtful scientific value, and a series of dubious Hollywood films, the NDE is still of considerable importance to medicine, neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, psychology and, more controversially, philosophy and theology (Stevenson and Greyson, 1979; Greyson and Stevenson, 1980; Ring, 1980; Sabom, 1982; Jansen, 1989a,b, 1990b, 1995, 1996). Philosophical and theological issues are beyond the scope of the present discussion, which is based within the scientific paradigm and is thus best assessed from within this paradigm.
Recent advances in neuroscience are bringing us closer to a brain-based understanding of the NDE as an altered state of consciousness. This discussion does not address the issue of whether there is life after death, but does argue that NDE's are not evidence for life after death. This would be appear to be self-evident on logical grounds: death is defined as the final, irreversible end. The Oxford English Dictionary (Sykes, 1982) defines death as the 'final cessation of vital functions'.According to this definition, 'Returnees' did not die - although their minds, brains and bodies may have been in a highly unusual state for a period of time. If these definitions are not accepted, then we need a new terminology to describe these states.
There is now evidence from thousands of studies relating brain events to alterations in mental state that 'mind' results from neuronal activity. These studies range from observing the results of directly stimulating the brain with electrodes, for example the pioneering work of the neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield, to the most recent studies using magnetic resonance imaging to observe brain activity, for example to demonstrate activity in the temporal lobe while schizophrenics are experiencing auditory hallucinations (McGuire et al., 1995). The dramatic effects on the mind which result from the action of hallucinogenic drugs in the brain, effects which can include profound religous experiences, provide further evidence for the dependance of mind upon neurochemical and neuroelectrical events (Grinspoon and Bakalar, 1981). However, the dimension in which mind itself exists remains a mystery.
Within a scientific paradigm, it is not possible that "the spirit rises out of the body leaving the brain behind, but somehow still incorporating neuronal functions such as sight, hearing, and proprioception" (Morse, 1989). To believe that this is possible, we must leave the realm of science and adopt a wholly different paradigm.
The near-death experience (NDE) is a phenomenon of wide general interest. Despite its association with sensationalist media reports, populist books of doubtful scientific value, and a series of dubious Hollywood films, the NDE is still of considerable importance to medicine, neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, psychology and, more controversially, philosophy and theology (Stevenson and Greyson, 1979; Greyson and Stevenson, 1980; Ring, 1980; Sabom, 1982; Jansen, 1989a,b, 1990b, 1995, 1996). Philosophical and theological issues are beyond the scope of the present discussion, which is based within the scientific paradigm and is thus best assessed from within this paradigm.
Recent advances in neuroscience are bringing us closer to a brain-based understanding of the NDE as an altered state of consciousness. This discussion does not address the issue of whether there is life after death, but does argue that NDE's are not evidence for life after death. This would be appear to be self-evident on logical grounds: death is defined as the final, irreversible end. The Oxford English Dictionary (Sykes, 1982) defines death as the 'final cessation of vital functions'.According to this definition, 'Returnees' did not die - although their minds, brains and bodies may have been in a highly unusual state for a period of time. If these definitions are not accepted, then we need a new terminology to describe these states.
There is now evidence from thousands of studies relating brain events to alterations in mental state that 'mind' results from neuronal activity. These studies range from observing the results of directly stimulating the brain with electrodes, for example the pioneering work of the neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield, to the most recent studies using magnetic resonance imaging to observe brain activity, for example to demonstrate activity in the temporal lobe while schizophrenics are experiencing auditory hallucinations (McGuire et al., 1995). The dramatic effects on the mind which result from the action of hallucinogenic drugs in the brain, effects which can include profound religous experiences, provide further evidence for the dependance of mind upon neurochemical and neuroelectrical events (Grinspoon and Bakalar, 1981). However, the dimension in which mind itself exists remains a mystery.
Within a scientific paradigm, it is not possible that "the spirit rises out of the body leaving the brain behind, but somehow still incorporating neuronal functions such as sight, hearing, and proprioception" (Morse, 1989). To believe that this is possible, we must leave the realm of science and adopt a wholly different paradigm.