Loading...
Established indications for ketamine (an inhibitor of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor) include anesthesia for children but not for adults, due to its psychotomimetic and cognition-impairing actions in adults (e.g., Neuroimage Epub 2010 Aug 18). More recently, low-dose ketamine administered to adults with treatment-resistant bipolar depression has showed positive effects within hours, without major adverse effects (Arch Gen Psychiatry 2010; 67:793). To understand these findings, researchers studied the effects of ketamine on the “mammalian target of rapamycin” (mTOR) pathway, known to be involved in quick alterations of synaptic plasticity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of nonhuman primates.
In this rat study, the investigators exam…