Ketamine for Depression, but at What Cost? A Review of Ketamine’s Neurotoxic Effects From Preclinical and Human Studies
American Journal of Psychiatry September 10, 2025 Songze Li, Kristina T. Kumpf, Julian Urrutia et al. 13 citations
This review examines ketamine's neurotoxic potential across preclinical and clinical studies. The authors synthesized data from preclinical models, then integrated findings from human clinical trials of esketamine and observational studies in recreational users. Animal studies have found that repeated or high-dose subanesthetic ketamine administration results in consistent excitotoxic neuronal...