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Ji-Woon Kim

5 papers in the library · 160 citations · publishing 2023-2026

Papers

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The hippocampus as a central hub in ketamine's antidepressant action: from molecules to circuit rewiring.

Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology February 1, 2026 Dongsun Park, Gwangho Lee, Bokyum Kim et al. 1 citation

Ketamine has emerged as a rapid-acting antidepressant that challenges classical monoaminergic frameworks and highlights the importance of synaptic and circuit-level plasticity in mood regulation. This review examines the hippocampus as a key site through which ketamine exerts both rapid and sustained antidepressant effects. We synthesize evidence showing that ketamine enhances hippocampal...

The therapeutic potential of psilocybin beyond psychedelia through shared mechanisms with ketamine.

Molecular Psychiatry July 7, 2025 Dongsun Park, Gwangho Lee, Won-Gyu Lee et al. 7 citations

Major depressive disorder is a debilitating condition, with many patients unresponsive to conventional monoaminergic antidepressants. Rapid-acting antidepressants such as ketamine and psilocybin offer promising alternatives, relieving symptoms within hours. Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, and psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic primarily targeting 5-HT2A receptors, both enhance...

Enhanced ERK activity extends ketamine's antidepressant effects by augmenting synaptic plasticity.

Science (New York, N.Y.) May 8, 2025 Z Zack Ma, Natalie J Guzikowski, Ji-Woon Kim et al. 44 citations

Repeated ketamine treatment to maintain a rapid antidepressant effect can lead to side effects over time, highlighting an unmet clinical need for sustaining this drug's antidepressant action from a single administration. Ketamine-induced synaptic potentiation at CA3-CA1 synapses has been proposed to be a key synaptic substrate for antidepressant action. Here, we found that ketamine-induced...

Distinct synaptic mechanisms drive the behavioral response to acute stress and rapid correction by ketamine.

Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology November 1, 2024 Ji-Woon Kim, Benjamin Kleinfelter, Ege T Kavalali et al. 3 citations

Prevailing hypotheses on the mechanisms of antidepressant action posit that antidepressants directly counteract deficiencies in major neurotransmitter signaling systems that underlie depression. The rapidly acting antidepressant ketamine has been postulated to correct excess glutamatergic signaling via glutamatergic antagonism leading to the rescue of neuronal structural deficits and reversal...

Ketamine: Mechanisms and Relevance to Treatment of Depression.

Annual Review of Medicine September 20, 2023 Ji-Woon Kim, Kanzo Suzuki, Ege T Kavalali et al. 105 citations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of suicide in the world. Monoamine-based antidepressant drugs are a primary line of treatment for this mental disorder, although the delayed response and incomplete efficacy in some patients highlight the need for improved therapeutic approaches. Over the past two decades, ketamine has shown rapid onset with sustained (up to several days)...