This review (2018) examines the neural correlates of ketamine-associated brain changes in patients with depression. Although ketamine affects different areas of the brain in various ways, its most notable effects were found in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus. Ketamine affects emotional blunting, which may be associated with reduced limbic responses to emotional stimuli, and increase neural activity in reward processing. It also reduces brain activation in regions, such as the Default Mode Network (DMN), associated with self-monitoring, which may be linked to its dissociative effects.
- Published
- Journal
- Harvard Review of Psychiatry
- Authors
- Ionescu, D. F., Felicione, J. M., Gosai, A., Cusin, C., Shin, P., Shapero, B. G., Deckersbach, T.