Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
Researchers tested a single intravenous dose of ketamine in 73 people with major depression that had not gotten better with usual treatments. In a two-site, double-blind trial, people were randomly given either ketamine or an active placebo (the anesthetic midazolam). Twenty-four hours after the infusion, people who got ketamine were…
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a widespread brain signaling system made of cannabinoid receptors, naturally made lipid messengers, and the enzymes that make and break those messengers. The two best-studied messengers are 2-AG and anandamide, and they are produced and degraded by different enzyme pathways. CB1 receptors are common in…
This review describes the endocannabinoid system (ECS) as a widespread network of natural cannabinoids, cannabinoid receptors (mainly CB1 and CB2), and the enzymes that make and break those chemicals. The ECS helps shape brain development and adjusts how neurons communicate. The authors note that THC is the main psychoactive part…
This brief review explains what is known about medical cannabis and its main chemicals. Cannabis has many natural compounds, and the two best-known are Δ9‑tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9‑THC), which causes psychoactive effects, and cannabidiol (CBD), which does not. The authors describe possible medical uses (for pain, epilepsy, and neurodegenerative diseases) but say…
This paper is a clear review of how ketamine can lift severe depression quickly for some people and what we know about how it works in the brain. The authors say a single low-dose intravenous shot of ketamine can produce rapid and lasting antidepressant effects in people whose depression did…
This webpage explains how DoktorABC offers medical cannabis services in Germany. You fill an online medical questionnaire, a licensed doctor reviews it, and may issue a prescription. The page also describes costs, delivery times, legal status, types of products, common effects of THC and CBD, and possible side effects.
This is a short 1970 Nature paper by E. W. Gill, W. D. Paton and R. G. Pertwee that reports preliminary experiments on the chemistry and pharmacology of cannabis. The PubMed entry has no abstract, but its indexing shows the paper looked at drug effects and toxicity, and at topics…
In rats and mice that had brain lesions used to model Parkinson's disease, the plant compound Δ9-THCV reduced movement problems after a single dose and, with repeated dosing, reduced loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain region called the substantia nigra. Some effects seem linked to antioxidant actions and, in…
This perspective reviews studies about whether ketamine’s short-term dissociative effects (feeling detached or “spacey”) are needed for its fast antidepressant effects. The authors conclude that current evidence does not support the idea that dissociation is required for antidepressant benefit. Some studies found small links between dissociation and mood improvement, but…
Ketamine is a drug that blocks NMDA-type glutamate receptors and was found to lift depression symptoms quickly, even in people whose depression did not improve with other treatments. This discovery has led to new treatments and a lot of research showing that ketamine’s effects involve rapid changes at synapses (for…
This review looks at research on how cannabis and its active chemicals relate to psychosis. It says there are three patterns: short psychotic symptoms during intoxication, short psychosis that can last beyond intoxication (often resolving within a month in case reports), and persistent psychosis that is not clearly tied to…
A single low-dose intravenous infusion of ketamine can relieve core symptoms of major depression within about two hours, with effects that can last up to two weeks. Research in animals links this fast effect to ketamine blocking NMDA receptors that are active at rest, which lowers eEF2 kinase activity and…
