From the podcast: “Our next clinical study examines observed differences in recollection
memory in healthy volunteers who received midazolam or ketamine.
Researchers led by Dr. Keith Vogt of the University of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, conducted a within-subject crossover study of 26 healthy
adults involving sedative doses of midazolam or ketamine compared
with saline. They used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify
task-related brain activity in areas of the brain involving memory, pain, and
fear. Participants underwent periodic pain stimulation through an electric
nerve stimulator on the left index finger. Midazolam showed an increased
functional connectivity to 20 areas of the brain and decreased functional
connectivity to 8 areas compared with saline during the pain experience.
By contrast, ketamine showed decreased connectivity to 17 brain areas
and increased connectivity to 2 areas. Pain scores were significantly lower
with ketamine, but not with midazolam. However, recollection memory
with lower with midazolam compared with both ketamine and saline. The
findings illustrate the complex neural dynamics of pain and anesthesia. The
article is available for free in this month’s issue.”