There is an urgent need for novel and effective interventions for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). In previous studies, ketamine has been shown to rapidly reduce depressive symptoms; however, the exact mechanisms of action of ketamine remain unknown. There are some preliminary findings to suggest that ketamine may exert its antidepressant effects through promotion of neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. The aim of this study is to help delineate the neurocognitive effects of ketamine exposure using a behavioral task (specifically, a pattern separation task) and a battery of other well-established cognitive measures. This is an assessment-only study, as we will be recruiting subjects to complete an assessment battery at two time points, before and after receiving ongoing ketamine administrations for at least four weeks.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
13
Change in pattern separation task results
The pattern separation task is a computer-based behavioral task that captures characteristic of pattern separation processes. Pattern separation is thought to be involved in the process of you finding your car everyday despite being in a different space; this may be dysfunctional in people with depression. The task itself is not an intervention; it is a rapid assessment of putative changes in pattern separation.
Time frame: Baseline - post at least 2 weeks on a stable dose of intranasal ketamine
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