Would ketamine treatment help if you didn’t know you got it?

Enlarge this image What if you could get all the potential benefits of ketamine without the “trip”? One researcher tested this very idea out by putting his patients to sleep. Steven Puetzer/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Steven Puetzer/Getty Images What if you could get all the potential benefits of ketamine without the “trip”? One researcher tested this very idea out by putting his patients to sleep. Steven Puetzer/Getty Images This week on NPR’s Short Wave podcast, we’re diving into the science behind drugs like psychedelics and ketamine. We’re also talking to researchers about how they’re trying to untangle the effects of the “trip” that often comes with these drugs from the ways they might change the human brain. The answer could help direct the future of psychedelic research. But these elements have historically been hard for researchers to separate: Patients generally know if they received a psychedelic drug or not. One anesthesiologist and neuroscientist at Stanford University, Boris Heifets, tried to navigate this challenge by putting his patients to sleep. Sponsor Message Listen to the first episode of the series here. Catch the rest of this series on psychedelics and related drugs this week by following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Have other questions about psychedelics and the brain? Let us know by emailing [email protected]! This episode was produced by Berly McCoy and Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Geoff Brumfiel. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Kwesi Lee was the audio engineer. Special thanks to Jon Hamilton.