Potential link between antidepressant-like effects of ketamine and promotion of adult neurogenesis in the ventral hippocampus of mice.
Neuropharmacology November 1, 2019 J. Yamada, S. Jinno
A single dose of ketamine promotes the growth of new neurons (neurogenesis) specifically in the ventral hippocampus, the region linked to emotion, but not in the dorsal hippocampus, which is associated with spatial memory, in adult mice. Ketamine increased densities of neuronal progenitors and newborn granule cells and sped their maturation only in the ventral hippocampus. It did not affect spatial memory but reduced depression-related behavior. The ventral hippocampus showed higher baseline levels of the GluN2B subunit of the NMDAR, and ketamine induced greater expression there of GluN2B, phosphorylated mTOR, the GluA1 subunit of AMPAR, and BDNF. These ventral-dominant molecular changes may underlie ketamine's antidepressant-like effects.