Dynamic reconfiguration of frequency-specific cortical coactivation patterns during psychedelic and anesthetized states induced by ketamine
Duan Li, Phillip E. Vlisides, George A. Mashour
Neuroimage January 7, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.118891 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Ketamine |
| Topics | Ketamine Esketamine |
| Keywords | Wakefulness Consciousness Repertoire Electroencephalography |
| Citations | 24 |
| Key findings | Subanesthetic ketamine is associated with a richer repertoire of brain states, while anesthetic ketamine shifts brain states toward low spatial variability and initially reduces repertoire richness before it recovers to wakefulness-like levels. |
Abstract
Recent neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that spontaneous brain activity exhibits rich spatiotemporal structure that can be characterized as the exploration of a repertoire of spatially distributed patterns that recur over time. The repertoire of brain states may reflect the capacity for consciousness, since general anesthetics suppress and psychedelic drugs enhance such dynamics. However, the modulation of brain activity repertoire across varying states of consciousness has not yet been studied in a systematic and unified framework. As a unique drug that has both psychedelic and anesthetic properties depending on the dose, ketamine offers an opportunity to examine brain reconfiguration dynamics along a continuum of consciousness. Here we investigated the dynamic organization of cortical activity during wakefulness and during altered states of consciousness induced by different doses of ketamine. Through k-means clustering analysis of the envelope data of source-localized electroencephalographic (EEG) signals, we identified a set of recurring states that represent frequency-specific spatial coactivation patterns. We quantified the effect of ketamine on individual brain states in terms of fractional occupancy and transition probabilities and found that ketamine anesthesia tends to shift the configuration toward brain states with low spatial variability. Furthermore, by assessing the temporal dynamics of the occurrence and transitions of brain states, we showed that subanesthetic ketamine is associated with a richer repertoire, while anesthetic ketamine induces dynamic changes in brain state organization, with the repertoire richness evolving from a reduced level to one comparable to that of normal wakefulness before recovery of consciousness. These results provide a novel description of ketamine's modulation of the dynamic configuration of cortical activity and advance understanding of the neurophysiological mechanism of ketamine in terms of the spatial, temporal, and spectral structures of underlying whole-brain dynamics.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on ketamine, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ketamine activates psychosis and alters limbic blood flow in schizophrenia Schizophrenic individuals | 1995 | Experimental study | |
| The spectral exponent of the resting EEG indexes the presence of consciousness during unresponsiveness induced by propofol, xenon, and ketamine Healthy participants | 2019 | Controlled experimental study | n = 15 |
| Ketamine Increases Human Motor Cortex Excitability to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Normal human subjects | 2003 | Experimental study | n = 7 |
| Evidence that Subanesthetic Doses of Ketamine Cause Sustained Disruptions of NMDA and AMPA-Mediated Frontoparietal Connectivity in Humans Human participants | 2015 | Experimental study | |
| Simultaneous population pharmacokinetic modelling of ketamine and three major metabolites in patients with treatment‐resistant bipolar depression Patients with treatment-resistant bipolar depression | 2012 | Population pharmacokinetic analysis | n = 9 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 16
- Classical and non-classical psychedelic drugs induce common network changes in human cortex. Neuroimage June 1, 2023
- Ketamine Analgesia and Psychedelia: Can We Dissociate Dissociation? Anesthesiology March 18, 2022
- Decoupling of motor cortex to movement in Parkinson's dyskinesia rescued by sub-anaesthetic ketamine. Brain June 3, 2025
- Electrophysiological Correlates of Lucid Dreaming: Sensor and Source Level Signatures. Journal of Neuroscience May 14, 2025
- Psilocybin for disorders of consciousness: A case-report study. Clinical Neurophysiology May 1, 2025
and 11 more in the library
Cites 27
- Human consciousness is supported by dynamic complex patterns of brain signal coordination Science Advances February 1, 2019
- Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin Scientific Reports April 19, 2017
- Disruption of Frontal–Parietal Communication by Ketamine, Propofol, and Sevoflurane Anesthesiology May 22, 2013
- Enhanced repertoire of brain dynamical states during the psychedelic experience Human Brain Mapping July 3, 2014
- Ketamine: 50 Years of Modulating the Mind Frontiers in Human Neuroscience November 29, 2016
and 22 more in the library