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Ketamine effects on brain GABA and glutamate levels with 1H-MRS: relationship to ketamine-induced psychopathology

Molecular Psychiatry volume 17, pages 664–665 (2012)Cite this article

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Preclinical studies suggest that ketamine-induced psychopathology is mediated, in part, by increased glutamate release, hypothesized to occur via inhibition of GABAergic interneurons. Using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS), we tested this hypothesis in healthy humans. Ketamine increased anterior cingulate cortex glutamate levels, which correlated with the degree of positive psychotic symptoms. Ketamine did not affect subcortical gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Experimental Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK

    J M Stone, C Dietrich, L J Reed & D Nutt

  2. Russell H Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and FM Kirby Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA

    R Edden

  3. Department of Neuroimaging, King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

    M A Mehta, S De Simoni & G J Barker

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    J H Krystal

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  1. J M Stone
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  2. C Dietrich
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  3. R Edden
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  4. M A Mehta
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Correspondence to J M Stone.

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Stone, J., Dietrich, C., Edden, R. et al. Ketamine effects on brain GABA and glutamate levels with 1H-MRS: relationship to ketamine-induced psychopathology. Mol Psychiatry 17, 664–665 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2011.171

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