Ketamine reveals shifting brain activity patterns linked to depression improvement in older adults
Researchers at Texas A&M University's Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine have identified time-specific patterns of brain activity following ketamine treatment in older adults with treatment-resistant depression.
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The findings, published in Translational Psychiatry , could help researchers identify potential biological markers associated with ketamine's antidepressant effects and better understand why patients respond differently to treatment.
Ketamine is increasingly used as a rapid-acting treatment for treatment-resistant depression , but its use in older adults has not been widely adopted because of concerns about safety and efficacy associated with aging pathology. To address these questions, the Experimental Psychopharmacology of Mood and Anxiety Disorders Lab (EPMAD Lab) at Texas A&M, led by Dr. Sanjay Mathew, professor and head of psychiatry, has been studying how the brain responds to ketamine in U.S. veterans older than 55.
Dr. Nicholas Murphy, research associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Texas A&M, coordinates the neuroscience-informed treatments wing of the EPMAD Lab. He compares ketamine's effects to opening a floodgate: The drug allows communication to flow through the brain, leading to enhanced flexibility. Murphy suggested patients' clinical response to ketamine is tied more closely to the brain's malleability than to the size of its initial response.