Study out of University College London Shows Ketamine Could Reduce Urge to Drink
According to an article recently published by Science News, a new trial out of University College London shows that Ketamine may help to reduce the urge to drink alcohol. Ketamine, a sedative and anesthetic, is known to have a hallucinogenic response.
Nature Communications published the findings of the trial aimed at reducing harmful drinking, alcohol and substance use disorders. The trial focused on “targeted memory rewriting.” Scientists conducting the study showed that “maladaptive reward memories (MRMs)” may be one culprit in overconsumption disorders. Thus, disrupting these MRMs could be the key to reducing a person’s urge to drink. The trial concluded “that intravenous ketamine following the brief retrieval of maladaptive cue-alcohol memories produced a comprehensive reduction in the reinforcing effects of alcohol among harmful drinkers.”
While there still need to be more studies to show how effective ketamine will be in reducing heavy drinking amongst those with an overconsumption disorder, it is an important first step. According to their findings this trial was “the first study to demonstrate interference with the reconsolidation of maladaptive alcohol memories in humans using ketamine.” Eliminating the reward memories associated with heavy drinking through the use of ketamine may be vital in reducing heavy drinking in those with Substance Use Disorders.
Learn more about the study Ketamine can reduce harmful drinking by pharmacologically rewriting drinking memories published in Nature Communications and the subsequent article A dose of ketamine could lessen the lure of alcohol in Science News.
Sources:
Sanders, Laura “A dose of ketamine could lessen the lure of alcohol.” Science News, 26 November 2019, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ketamine-may-help-New Study Shows Ketamine Could Be Key to Reducing Heavy Drinkingtreat-alcoholism-weakening-memory. Accessed 3 December 2019.
Das, R.K., Gale, G., Walsh, K. et al. Ketamine can reduce harmful drinking by pharmacologically rewriting drinking memories. Nat Commun 10, 5187 (2019) doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13162-w