“As an example of how this might look in depression — it is often easy for friends and family to point out to their loved one errors or the harm in their thought patterns,” Sumner explained. “A counsellor will often work with a person to change their harmful ruminations or beliefs, such as with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, the person experiencing depression may find this difficult to see, or to take on because of how rigid their models (belief about themselves, the world around them, their future) have become….
“Ketamine may be working by increasing plasticity (the ability to adapt and learn new things), as well as increasing the brain’s sensitivity to unexpected external input that is signaling errors in its own rigid expectations,” Sumner said.
Ketamine may ease depression by restoring the brain’s sensitivity to prediction error, study suggests
I wonder if micro-dosing psychedelics to enhance creativity is not doing something similar.
Study here: Ketamine improves short-term plasticity in depression by enhancing sensitivity to prediction errors
EDIT: Just ran across one on psilocybin: Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy produces large, rapid, and sustained antidepressant effects.
Combining the psychedelic drug psilocybin with supportive psychotherapy results in substantial rapid and enduring antidepressant effects among patients with major depressive disorder, according to a new randomized clinical trial. The findings have been published in JAMA Psychiatry.
The new study provides more evidence that psilocybin, a compound found in so-called magic mushrooms, can be a helpful tool in the treatment of psychiatric conditions.
American Buddhist Net 