This large-scale data-analytic study compared the semantic similarity of psychoactive trip reports (n≈15,000) and narrative accounts Near-Death Experiences (n=625), and found that ketamine (followed by salvinorin A and DMT) bared the most resemblance to the experience of 'dying'. The authors speculate that a ketamine model of Near-Death Experiences may indicate a neuroprotective function of endogenous NMDA antagonists released in the proximity of death.
- Published
- Journal
- Consciousness and Cognition
- Authors
- Martial, C., Cassol, H., Charland-Verville, V, Erowid, E., Pallavicini, C., Sanz, C., Vivo, R. M, Zamberlan, F., Erowid, F., Laureys, S., Greyson, B., Tagliazucchi, E.