Ketamine: Linking NMDA receptor hypofunction, gamma oscillations and psychosis (commentary on Qin et al., 2022)
European Journal of Neuroscience November 28, 2022 T. Reilly
Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, produces psychosis-like symptoms and brain changes in rodents, supporting its use as a model for schizophrenia. In the study by Qin et al., ketamine increased baseline gamma power but decreased power in response to sensory stimulation, reducing the signal-to-noise ratio and disrupting sensory processing. The authors also found decreased coherence between the thalamus and somatosensory cortex and increased randomness of neural signals. These findings align with gamma band abnormalities observed in schizophrenia, such as reduced evoked gamma power and increased resting-state gamma power, and help explain cognitive deficits and behavioral disorganization associated with the disorder.