Translational Psychiatry
September 28, 2026
Johan Saelens, Franziska Stadler, Victoria Forschauer et al.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a highly debilitating and often chronic condition. A large percentage of patients do not respond to first-line treatments with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), underscoring the need for novel therapeutic approaches. In this context, promising innovative treatments have recently emerged for OCD; these...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 24, 2026
Franziska Stadler, Johan Saelens, Ioline D. Henter et al.
Background: The past few decades have seen a revived interest in psychedelic-assisted and ketamine-assisted therapy for mental health disorders, but data concerning the acute, subacute, and long-term effects of serotonergic psychedelics on cognitive functioning are scarce. This international, online study (N = 759) sought to investigate the potential acute, subacute, and long-term effects of...
medRxiv
August 28, 2025
Franziska Stadler, Johan Saelens, Ioline D. Henter et al.
preprint
This international online study (N=759) examined the acute, subacute, and long-term effects of psychedelic drug use on cognitive performance and mental health. Participants completed cognitive tasks assessing working memory, selective attention, and visual/spatial perception, as well as questionnaires assessing mental health outcomes and quality of life. Based on self-reported substance use,...
Neuropsychopharmacology
May 1, 2025
Johan Saelens, Anna Gramser, Victoria Watzal et al.
47 citations
This systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) sought to compare different antidepressant treatments for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in order to facilitate evidence-based choices. A literature search of PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase from inception until April 13th, 2023 identified randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) of adults with depression who had not responded to at...
Neuropsychopharmacology
January 2024
Jenessa N Johnston, Bashkim Kadriu, Christoph Kraus et al.
The discovery of ketamine as a rapid-acting antidepressant led to a new era in the development of neuropsychiatric therapeutics, one characterized by an antidepressant response that occurred within hours or days rather than weeks or months. Considerable clinical research supports the use of-or further research with-subanesthetic-dose ketamine and its (S)-enantiomer esketamine in multiple...
Drug Discovery Today
February 1, 2023
J. Johnston, Maximillian Greenwald, Ioline D. Henter et al.
64 citations
Well-established animal models of depression have described a proximal relationship between stress and central nervous system (CNS) inflammation – a relationship mirrored in the peripheral inflammatory biomarkers of individuals with depression. Evidence also suggests that stress-induced proinflammatory states can contribute to the neurobiology of treatment-resistant depression. Interestingly,...
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
March 22, 2022
Marina Kojić, Johan Saelens, Bashkim Kadriu et al.
11 citations
The approval of ketamine for treatment-resistant depression has created a model for a novel class of rapid-acting glutamatergic antidepressants. Recent research into other novel rapid-acting antidepressants – most notably serotonergic psychedelics (SPs) – has also proven promising. Presently, the mechanisms of action of these substances are under investigation to improve these novel treatments,...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
November 16, 2020
Bashkim Kadriu, Maximillian Greenwald, Ioline D. Henter et al.
98 citations
BACKGROUND: The glutamatergic modulator ketamine has created a blueprint for studying novel pharmaceuticals in the field. Recent studies suggest that "classic" serotonergic psychedelics (SPs) may also have antidepressant efficacy. Both ketamine and SPs appear to produce rapid, sustained antidepressant effects after a transient psychoactive period. METHODS: This review summarizes areas of...
Molecular Psychiatry
September 14, 2020
A. Mkrtchian, Jennifer W. Evans, Christoph Kraus et al.
110 citations
Ketamine improves motivation-related symptoms in depression but simultaneously elicits similar symptoms in healthy individuals, suggesting that it might have different effects in health and disease. This study examined whether ketamine affects the brain’s fronto-striatal system, which is known to drive motivational behavior. The study also assessed whether inflammatory mechanisms—which are...
International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice
March 2017
Christoph Kraus, Ulrich Rabl, Thomas Vanicek et al.
Clinical trials demonstrated that ketamine exhibits rapid antidepressant efficacy when administered in subanaesthetic dosages. We reviewed currently available literature investigating efficacy, response rates and safety profile. Twelve studies investigating unipolar, seven on bipolar depression were included after search in medline, scopus and web of science. Randomized, placebo-controlled or...