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.
In this rat study, animals got a single injection of ibogaine at 20 mg/kg or 40 mg/kg and the researchers measured three neurotrophic factors (GDNF, BDNF, NGF) in four brain regions (VTA, prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, substantia nigra) at 3 and 24 hours. The main changes appeared at 24 hours:…
This review explains how ketamine, a drug that blocks NMDA receptors, might work for people with treatment‑resistant depression. It says one injection of ketamine can rapidly reduce depressive symptoms, including acute suicidal behavior. The paper describes steps that could explain this: ketamine may raise glutamate, trigger growth of neuron branches,…
Researchers pooled results from 29 human studies that measured blood levels of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, after people received so-called psychoplastogen drugs such as ketamine or psychedelics. They found no clear change in blood BDNF after these drugs. The authors say this does not prove the…
