European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience
May 21, 2024
Zack Y Shan, Adem T Can, Abdalla Z Mohamed et al.
3 citations
Ketamine treatment for chronic suicidality alters how brain networks synchronize and transition over time. In a 6-week open-label trial with 29 patients, those who received ketamine showed significantly more transitions among whole-brain connectivity states after treatment. At a 10-week follow-up, patients spent more time in and more frequently visited a highly synchronized brain state, and these changes correlated with reduced suicidal ideation scores. Patients who persistently responded to ketamine had a higher baseline fraction of a cognitive control network state with strong connections, suggesting that pre-treatment brain connectivity patterns may help predict who will benefit from ketamine therapy. These findings point to a biological mechanism for ketamine's suicide-prevention effects.
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
December 11, 2025
Adem T Can, Jim Lagopoulos, Paul B Fitzgerald et al.
2 citations
Ketamine is a fast-acting treatment for psychiatric conditions that do not respond to other therapies, but its use is controversial. Evidence shows it can reduce depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, yet it also carries risks such as dissociation, dependence, and unknown long-term effects. Its reputation as a recreational drug adds stigma and regulatory hurdles. The authors argue that ketamine should be accepted as a legitimate psychiatric treatment, but its use must be guided by ethical principles—autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice—and supported by careful regulation and research, avoiding both unwarranted rejection and premature hype.
Brain and behavior
November 1, 2024
Jules S Mitchell, Toomas E Anijärv, Adem T Can et al.
Subanesthetic doses of ketamine show promise for treating suicidality, but predictive biomarkers are lacking. This study examined EEG-derived complexity measures—Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZC) and multiscale entropy (MSE)—in 31 participants receiving six weekly oral doses of racemic ketamine (0.5-3 mg/kg). Responders, defined by a ≥50% reduction in Beck Suicide Scale score or a score ≤6, showed elevated baseline eyes-open complexity compared to nonresponders, which decreased from baseline to post-treatment. Elevated baseline eyes-open LZC in responders was localized to the left frontal lobe. EEG complexity metrics may serve as sensitive biomarkers for predicting and evaluating oral ketamine treatment response.