Ketamine is a dissociative anaesthetic drug which acts on the central nervous system chiefly through antagonism of the n-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Recently, ketamine has attracted attention as a rapid-acting anti-depressant but other studies have also reported its efficacy in reducing problematic alcohol and drug use. This review explores the preclinical and clinical research into ketamine's ability to treat addiction. Despite methodological limitations and the relative infancy of the field, results thus far are promising. Ketamine has been shown to effectively prolong abstinence from alcohol and heroin in detoxified alcoholics and heroin dependent individuals, respectively. Moreover, ketamine reduced craving for and self-administration of cocaine in non-treatment seeking cocaine users. However, further randomised controlled trials are urgently needed to confirm ketamine's efficacy. Possible mechanisms by which ketamine may work within addiction include: enhancement of neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, disruption of relevant functional neural networks, treating depressive symptoms, blocking reconsolidation of drug-related memories, provoking mystical experiences and enhancing psychological therapy efficacy. Identifying the mechanisms by which ketamine exerts its therapeutic effects in addiction, from the many possible candidates, is crucial for advancing this treatment and may have broader implications understanding other psychedelic therapies. In conclusion, ketamine shows great promise as a treatment for various addictions, but well-controlled research is urgently needed. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled 'Psychedelics: New Doors, Altered Perceptions'.

AbstractTemperature maintenance and detection are essential for the survival and perpetuation of any species. This review is focused on thermosensation; thus a detailed and traced explanation of the anatomical and physiological characteristics of each component of this sensation is given. First, the proteins that react to temperature changes are identified; next, the nature of the neurons involved in thermosensation is described; and then, the pathways from the skin through the spinal cord to the brain are outlined. Finally, the areas of the brain and their interconnections where thermoperception arises are explained. Transduction of the external and internal temperature information is essentially mediated by the transient receptor potential ion channels (TRPs). These proteins are embedded in the neurons’ membrane and they hyper- or de-polarize neurons in function of the intrinsic voltage and the temperature changes. There are distinct TRP sensors for different temperature ranges. Interestingly, the primary afferent neurons have either cold or hot receptors, so they are dedicated separately to cold or hot sensation. The information is transmitted by different pathways from the skin to the brain, where it either remains separated or is integrated to generate a response. It seems that both the determination of how thermoperception is produced and how we interact with the world are dependent on the particular arrangement and nature of the components, the way of transduction of information and the communication between these elements.

Teachers must identify, manage and modify alternative conceptions in their students. However, research consistently highlights that future teachers prioritise disciplines’ requirements rather than the educational needs of children. Moreover, some researchers have proposed that the way our senses work shapes the development of children’s ideas. Neuroscientists have only recently started to understand how the senses transduce and transmit stimuli. In this study, we show an innovative initial training course of Didactics of Physics, which includes the latest understanding of the thermosensory system. We analysed the progression of the educational proposals written by future teachers. This analysis revealed the effect of integrating neuroscience contents in the initial training. We found that the neuroscience insights helped future teachers incorporating children’s misconceptions in their proposals. Additionally, they lowered their expectations and became less frustrated. They understood that it is not expected to quickly modify pupils’ alternative conceptions because they have a physiological component.

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Recent evidence suggests that primary sensory cortical regions play a role in the integration of information from multiple sensory modalities. How primary cortical neurons integrate multisensory information is unclear, partly because multisensory interactions in the cortex are typically weak or modulatory. To address this question, we take advantage of the robust representation of thermal (cooling) and tactile stimuli in mouse forepaw primary somatosensory cortex (fS1). Using a thermotactile detection task, we show that the perception of threshold level cool or tactile information is enhanced when they are presented simultaneously compared to presentation alone. To investigate the cortical correlates of thermotactile integration, we performed in vivo extracellular recordings from fS1 during unimodal and bimodal stimulation of the forepaw. Unimodal stimulation evoked thermal- or tactile-specific excitatory and inhibitory responses of fS1 neurons. The most prominent features of bimodal, thermotactile stimulation are the recruitment of unimodally silent fS1 neurons, non-linear integration features and a change in the response dynamics to favor longer response durations. Together, we identify quantitative and qualitative changes in cortical encoding that may underlie the improvement in perception of multisensory, thermotactile surfaces during haptic exploration.

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