Translational Psychiatry
September 24, 2026
Elisa Briem, Peter Stöhrmann, Gregor Dörl et al.
Abstract Ketamine induces a sequence of temporally distinct effects on brain function, yet its impact on reward processing beyond the acute post-administration phase remains unclear. In this single-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study, 28 healthy participants received 0.5 mg/kg racemic ketamine or placebo via a 40 min intravenous infusion. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was...
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology
2026
Manfred Klöbl, Thomas Liebe, Gregor Dörl et al.
Ketamine, a well-established antidepressant and dissociative anesthetic, is also used recreationally in the club and chemsex scene. Survey and qualitative data suggest that while ketamine facilitates chemsex encounters, it diminishes the intensity of the sexual experience. To investigate this phenomenon from a neuroscientific perspective while considering ketamine's sex-specific effects. Two...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
June 6, 2025
Benjamin Spurny-Dworak, Thomas Liebe, Samantha Graf et al.
2 citations
The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist ketamine has found broad application in the field of psychiatry. Due to its rapid antidepressant and anti-suicidal properties, it is used as a treatment for major depressive disorder. Furthermore, ketamine evokes dissociative and psychotropic states, which allows the modeling of schizophrenic symptoms. The thalamus, a main target for ketamine's...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 8, 2020
Leo R. Silberbauer, B. Spurny, P. Handschuh et al.
43 citations
Introduction Converging evidence suggests that ketamine elicits antidepressant effects via enhanced neuroplasticity precipitated by a surge of glutamate and modulation of GABA. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) illustrates changes to cerebral glutamate and GABA immediately following ketamine administration during dissociation. However, few studies assess subacute changes in the...