Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Impairment in Methoxetamine-Induced Psychosis: An 18F-FDG PET/CT Case Study
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs February 9, 2019 Lorenzo Moccia, A. Tofani, Marianna Mazza et al. 10 citations
A 23-year-old man developed a substance-induced psychotic disorder after intravenously injecting an unspecified amount of methoxetamine (MXE), a ketamine derivative hallucinogen. Clinically, he showed blunted affect, diminished social drive, loss of sense of purpose, and detachment from the environment. Psychometric tests revealed severe dissociation, lack of motivation, and mild impairments in verbal fluency, working memory, and attention. Brain scans using 18F-FDG PET/CT showed significantly reduced tracer uptake in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a region critical for goal-oriented cognition, working memory, and attention. This case indicates that a single acute MXE intoxication can cause severe brain impairment.