Increase in thalamic cerebral blood flow is associated with antidepressant effects of ketamine in major depressive disorder
The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry January 5, 2022 Matti Gärtner, Mischa de Rover, Lena Václavů et al. 11 citations
In patients with Major Depressive Disorder, increased blood flow in the thalamus one day after a single low-dose ketamine infusion is linked to greater improvement in depressive symptoms. Lower thalamus blood flow before treatment predicts both a larger increase in flow after ketamine and stronger symptom reduction. The study used arterial spin labelling, a brain imaging technique that directly measures cerebral blood flow, avoiding the ambiguity of standard BOLD imaging. These findings suggest that measuring regional blood flow could help guide ketamine treatment decisions.