Ketamine-Induced Glutamatergic Mechanisms of Sleep and Wakefulness: Insights for Developing Novel Treatments for Disturbed Sleep and Mood.

ABSTRACT: Ketamine, a drug with rapid antidepressant effects and well-described effects on slow wave sleep (SWS), is a useful intervention for investigating sleep-wake mechanisms involved in novel therapeutics. The drug rapidly (within minutes to hours) reduces depressive symptoms in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD), including those with treatment-resistant depression. Ketamine treatment elevates extracellular glutamate in the prefrontal cortex. Glutamate, in turn, plays a critical role as a proximal element in a ketamine-initiated molecular cascade that increases synaptic strength and plasticity, which ultimately results in rapidly improved mood. In MDD, rapid antidepressant response to ketamine is related to decreased waking as well as increased total sleep

SUBMITTER: Duncan WC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5866161 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature