A single dose of ketamine may cut down problematic drinking. Taken in the right context, the hallucinogenic drug may be able to weaken the pull of the cues that trigger people to drink beer, researchers report November 26 in Nature Communications.
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[Researcher Ravi] Das and his colleagues recruited 90 people who said they drank too much beer, though none was formally diagnosed with alcohol addiction. First, participants were exposed to pictures of beer and even got to drink one in the lab. During the experience, they rated their beer cravings, enjoyment of drinking, and after the beer was gone, the desire to have another one.A few days later, the participants returned to the lab and were split into three groups. People in one group were again shown pictures of beer to jog their memories.
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A week after the procedure, the people who had their beer memories jogged before receiving ketamine reported less desire to drink, and less enjoyment of beer — a reduction that wasn’t as strong for the other two groups of participants. The people who had their beer-drinking memories jogged and received ketamine also reported drinking less.
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