scholarly journals Ketamine—50 years in use: from anesthesia to rapid antidepressant effects and neurobiological mechanisms

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-345
Author(s):  
Samuel Kohtala
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Active Metabolites ◽  
The Past ◽  
Antidepressant Effects ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Pharmacologically Active ◽  
Dose Dependent ◽  
Different Doses

AbstractOver the past 50 years, ketamine has solidified its position in both human and veterinary medicine as an important anesthetic with many uses. More recently, ketamine has been studied and used for several new indications, ranging from chronic pain to drug addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder. The discovery of the rapid-acting antidepressant effects of ketamine has resulted in a surge of interest towards understanding the precise mechanisms driving its effects. Indeed, ketamine may have had the largest impact for advancements in the research and treatment of psychiatric disorders in the past few decades. While intense research efforts have been aimed towards uncovering the molecular targets underlying ketamine’s effects in treating depression, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain elusive. These efforts are made more difficult by ketamine’s complex dose-dependent effects on molecular mechanisms, multiple pharmacologically active metabolites, and a mechanism of action associated with the facilitation of synaptic plasticity. This review aims to provide a brief overview of the different uses of ketamine, with an emphasis on examining ketamine’s rapid antidepressant effects spanning molecular, cellular, and network levels. Another focus of the review is to offer a perspective on studies related to the different doses of ketamine used in antidepressant research. Finally, the review discusses some of the latest hypotheses concerning ketamine’s action.

Stress management: Corpus-based insights into vernacular interpretations of stress

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-93
Author(s):  
Laurel Smith Stvan
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
American English ◽  
Physical Symptom ◽  
The Body ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
The Past ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Semantic Shift

Examination of the term stress in naturally occurring vernacular prose provides evidence of three separate senses being conflated. A corpus analysis of 818 instances of stress from non-academic texts in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) and the Corpus of American Discourses on Health (CADOH) shows a negative prosody for stress, which is portrayed variously as a source outside the body, a physical symptom within the body and an emotional state. The data show that contemporary speakers intermingle the three senses, making more difficult a discussion between doctors and patients of ways to ‘reduce stress’, when stress might be interpreted as a stressor, a symptom, or state of anxiety. This conflation of senses reinforces the impression that stress is pervasive and increasing. In addition, a semantic shift is also refining a new sense for stress, as post-traumatic stress develops as a specific subtype of emotional stress whose use has increased in circulation in the past 20 years.

scholarly journals Making a medicine out of MDMA

2015 ◽  
Vol 206 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Sessa ◽  
David Nutt
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Clinical Utility ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Treatment Resistant ◽  
The Past ◽  
Post Traumatic

SummaryFrom its first use 3,4,-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has been recognised as a drug with therapeutic potential. Research on its clinical utility stopped when it entered the recreational drug scene but has slowly resurrected in the past decade. Currently there is enough evidence for MDMA to be removed from its Schedule 1 status of ‘no medical use’ and moved into Schedule 2 (alongside other misused but useful medicines such as heroin and amphetamine). Such a regulatory move would liberate its use as a medicine for patients experiencing severe mental illnesses such as treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder.

scholarly journals “Nightmare is over”: Trauma and Agency in the Remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosana Ruas Machado Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Trauma Studies ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
The Past ◽  
Post Traumatic

Abstract The 2010 remake of the horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street focuses on the earthly abuses committed by the now confirmed pedophile Freddy Krueger. The fact that the victims of Krueger’s sexual assaults start getting murdered in their sleep is relevant to the trauma studies, as nightmares are one of the most common symptoms observed in people diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Therefore, one of the goals of this paper is to analyze the ways in which trauma is portrayed in the movie. Considering that the teenagers can only overcome Krueger — and therefore, their trauma — once they are able to witness the terrible events of their past, this work also aims at observing and discussing the trajectory that allows the protagonists to survive. In order to meet these goals, some central concepts to trauma theory are presented and discussed in relation to their portrayal in the film. The analysis shows that the main character Nancy can only defeat Krueger once she knows everything that has happened in the past and is able to have agency in the story.

scholarly journals Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Civilian Volunteers and Military Soldiers in War against ISIS from Basra City

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-62
Author(s):  
Zainab Kammad ◽  
Aqeel Alsabbagh
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
P Value ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Past ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Ptsd Prevalence

Background: Violence and aggression rates have been high in Iraq, where people have been subjected to many traumatic events for the past decades [acts of terrorism, explosions, kidnapping, systematized violence, and aggression], and for the past three years (with the advent of ISIS), all that has made them susceptible to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), especially in case of people experiencing trauma at the frontlines (soldiers and civilian volunteers). Objective: To determine the prevalence of PTSD among civilian volunteers (CV) and military soldiers (MS) participating in the war against ISIS. Patients and Methods: a cross sectional study done in two major hospital in Basra city, with a sample of 200 subject, 100 from military soldiers and 100 from civilian volunteers. The candidates subjected first to GHQ, then to a special questionnaire for PTSD. P value < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of PTSD was found to be 21% and 47% among CV and MS respectively. Conclusion: PTSD prevalence is higher among military soldiers than among civilian volunteers. Keywords: PTSD, civilian volunteers, military soldiers, religious belief.

The Apotheosis of Rage

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-121
Author(s):  
T. M. Lemos
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
The Past ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Post Traumatic

Recent psychological research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has demonstrated that one of the most common symptoms of the disorder is heightened or even uncontrollable anger. In the past decade, various works in biblical studies have assessed the effects of trauma on the ancient Israelites and on the texts of the Hebrew Bible, but these have not fully explored either the connection between anger and PTSD or that between anger in the Hebrew Bible and Israelite trauma. This article seeks to demonstrate the close relationship between trauma and rage, and argues that biblical authors often locate their own traumatized rage in the figure of Yahweh. The emotional response of Yahweh toward the Israelites is frequently presented as one of rage, blame, and contempt – a trio of socially distancing emotions. This depiction of Yahweh results in a “theology of distance” wherein Yahweh’s furious emotionality negates the sympathy of audiences toward the traumatized Israelites.


scholarly journals Loss of Prefrontal Cortical Higher Cognition with Uncontrollable Stress: Molecular Mechanisms, Changes with Age, and Relevance to Treatment

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dibyadeep Datta ◽  
Amy Arnsten
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Pharmacological Treatments ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Uncontrollable Stress ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Cell Firing ◽  
Increased Susceptibility

The newly evolved prefrontal cortex (PFC) generates goals for “top-down” control of behavior, thought, and emotion. However, these circuits are especially vulnerable to uncontrollable stress, with powerful, intracellular mechanisms that rapidly take the PFC “off-line.” High levels of norepinephrine and dopamine released during stress engage α1-AR and D1R, which activate feedforward calcium-cAMP signaling pathways that open nearby potassium channels to weaken connectivity and reduce PFC cell firing. Sustained weakening with chronic stress leads to atrophy of dendrites and spines. Understanding these signaling events helps to explain the increased susceptibility of the PFC to stress pathology during adolescence, when dopamine expression is increased in the PFC, and with advanced age, when the molecular “brakes” on stress signaling are diminished by loss of phosphodiesterases. These mechanisms have also led to pharmacological treatments for stress-related disorders, including guanfacine treatment of childhood trauma, and prazosin treatment of veterans and civilians with post-traumatic stress disorder.

scholarly journals DICER1 and microRNA regulation in post-traumatic stress disorder with comorbid depression

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliza P. Wingo ◽  
Lynn M. Almli ◽  
Jennifer S. Stevens ◽  
Torsten Klengel ◽  
Monica Uddin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Mirna Regulation ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Comorbid Depression ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Post Traumatic

Abstract DICER1 is an enzyme that generates mature microRNAs (miRNAs), which regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally in brain and other tissues and is involved in synaptic maturation and plasticity. Here, through genome-wide differential gene expression survey of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with comorbid depression (PTSD&Dep), we find that blood DICER1 expression is significantly reduced in cases versus controls, and replicate this in two independent cohorts. Our follow-up studies find that lower blood DICER1 expression is significantly associated with increased amygdala activation to fearful stimuli, a neural correlate for PTSD. Additionally, a genetic variant in the 3′ un-translated region of DICER1, rs10144436, is significantly associated with DICER1 expression and with PTSD&Dep, and the latter is replicated in an independent cohort. Furthermore, genome-wide differential expression survey of miRNAs in blood in PTSD&Dep reveals miRNAs to be significantly downregulated in cases versus controls. Together, our novel data suggest DICER1 plays a role in molecular mechanisms of PTSD&Dep through the DICER1 and the miRNA regulation pathway.

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