Anesthesia, Placebo Effects, Consciousness, Subjectivity, MDMA, Ketamine, Opioids, Psychedelics | Boris Heifets | #163

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About the guest: Boris Heifets, MD, PhD is an anesthesiologist and researcher at Stanford University. His lab studies non-ordinary states of consciousness and psychoactive drugs like MDMA, ketamine, and psychedelics.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Heifets discuss: anesthesia and how anesthetics work; placebo effects & expectations in clinical research; ketamine as an antidepressant, anesthetic, and recreational drug; the subjective effects of psychedelics and other drugs; MDMA and Lykos Therapeutics’ attempts to gain FDA approval for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy; opioids & placebo effects; and more.
Related episodes:

• How Does Ketamine Work & Is It Addictive? | Christian Lüscher | #90
• Consciousness, Anesthesia, Coma, Vegetative States, Sleep Pills (Ambien), Ketamine, AI & ChatGPT | Alex Proekt | #101

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.
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