Acute ketamine enhances social behavior and dendritic plasticity in the amygdala by increasing BDNF, GAP43, and TRKB presence following excitotoxic neonatal ibotenic acid lesion.
Neurochemistry international July 1, 2025 Nestor I Martínez-Torres, Jhonathan Cárdenas-Bedoya, Blanca Miriam Torres-Mendoza
Social isolation, a negative symptom of schizophrenia that responds poorly to available treatments, may be alleviated by a single low dose of ketamine. In a rat model mimicking schizophrenia-related social deficits through neonatal brain lesions, a single ketamine injection improved social behavior, increased the complexity of brain cell connections in the amygdala, and elevated levels of proteins linked to brain plasticity—BDNF, TRKB, and GAP43. The results suggest that acute sub-anesthetic ketamine could provide a temporary window to help individuals with schizophrenia engage with and continue treatment.