Anthony Peake

  • Home
  • About
  • Book Shop
    • Cheating the Ferryman
    • The Hidden Universe
    • Time and The Rose Garden
    • Opening the Doors of Perception
    • The Immortal Mind
    • A Life of Philip K Dick
    • The Infinite Mindfield
    • The Labyrinth of Time
    • Making Sense of Near-Death Experiences
    • The Out-of-Body Experience
    • The Daemon
    • Is There Life After Death?
  • Future Events
  • News
  • Videos
    • Anthony Peake Consciousness Hour
    • Anthony Peake Lectures
    • Anthony Peake Interviews
  • My Account
  • Basket
  • Checkout
  • Contact

Karl Jansen and the “Glutamate Flood”

18th November 2013 By Anthony Peake

Those of you who have taken the time to read ITLAD or have attended my ITLAD lecture will know I make much of a phenomenon known as the ‘glutamate flood’ which takes place at times of high stress and, it is suggested, at the point of death.  A few times I have been challenged to give supporting evidence to this statement.  For the record I first encountered the ‘glutamate flood’ hypothesis in an article written by psychiatrist Dr. Karl Jansen regarding the effects of ketamine and how this can be linked to the Near-Death Experience (NDE) written in 1998.  Here is a direct quote from the paper together with supporting papers:

“When glutamate is present in excess, neurones become over-excited and die.  Specifically, glutamate binds to the NMDA receptors and this opens the ion channels.  The dissolved salts and fluid rush into the brain cells which may swell up and burst if the degree of stimulation is excessive and prolonged.  Conditions which have been proven to lead to excessive release of glutamate include low oxygen (hypoxia) and lack of a blood supply (ischaemia), the common results of a heart attack for example, or a drug overdose (another precipitant of NDE”s).  Other conditions where there is an excess of glutamate include epileptic attacks, and low bood sugar levels (hypoglycaemia)(e.g. Rothman and Olney,1987).

One of the most exciting discoveries of the 1980”s was that blockade of the ion channel by ketamine prevented brain cell death from excitotoxicity (e.g. Rothman et al.,1987).  When ketamine binds to the PCP receptor inside the channel, calcium cannot rush into the cell.  Blockade of the NMDA binding site itself also prevents excito-toxic damage, and also results in psychedelic effects on the mental state.

This discovery led to the prediction that the brain would have a natural protective mechanism against a glutamate flood (Jansen, 1989a,b;1990a; 1996b,c; 1997a).

The current evidence suggests that preserving the brain from damage by blocking the action of glutamate produces ketamine-like psychedelic effects: the two phenomena appear to be linked.

The natural (endogenous) blocker of the NMDA receptor has now been identified.  It is a peptide called N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NAAG).”

References:

Rothman, S.M and Olney, J. W. (1987). Excitotoxicity and the NMDA receptor. Trends in Neurosciences, 10, 299-302.

Rothman, S.M., Thurston, J. H., Hauhart, R. E., Clark, G. P. and Solomon., J. S. (1987). Ketamine protects hippocampal neurons from anoxia in vitro. Neuroscience, 21, 673 – 683.

Connect with me

Categories

Anthony Peake’s Books

  • Anthony Peake - A Life of Philip K Dick - The Man Who Remembered The Future A Life of Philip K Dick: The Man Who Remembered the Future
  • Anthony Peake - Making Sense of Near-Death Experiences - A Handbook for Clinicians Making Sense of Near-Death Experiences: A Handbook for Clinicians £18.99
  • Anthony Peake - The Out Of Body Experience - The History and Science of Astral Travel The Out-of-Body Experience by Anthony Peake £10.99
  • Anthony Peake - Opening The Doors Of Perception - The Key to Cosmic Awareness Opening the Doors of Perception £10.99
  • Ervin Laszlo with Anthony Peake - The Immortal Mind - Science and the Continuity of Consciousness beyond the Brain The Immortal Mind: Science and the Continuity of Consciousness Beyond the Brain

Follow Anthony’s Personal Facebook Page

Anthony Peake’s Personal Facebook

Anthony Peake's author page

Recent Articles

  • Tuesday Talk at the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre, Edinburgh
  • Anthony Peake at Watkins Bookshop, 9th February 2023. “Quantum Afterlives.”
  • Consciousness Hour Sunday 12 February 2023 – Nancy Dean.
  • Quanta Magazine: Richard Feynman. “Sum Over Histories”
  • David Chalmers – “Idealism and the Mind-Body Problem”

Copyright © 2023 · Anthony Peake - Author · Sitemap · Powered By Rutland Web Design