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Alexander Refisch

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Center for Intervention and Research on adaptive and maladaptive brain Circuits underlying mental health (C-I-R-C), Halle-Jena-Magdeburg, Germany.

1 paper in the library · 3 citations · publishing 2024

Papers

Cortical thickness of the posterior cingulate cortex is associated with the ketamine-induced altered sense of self: An ultra-high field MRI study.

Journal of psychiatric research April 1, 2024 Lena Vera Danyeli, Zümrüt Duygu Sen, Lejla Colic et al. 3 citations

In healthy men, a thinner posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is linked to a stronger feeling of disembodiment after a low dose of ketamine, a drug that can rapidly relieve depression. The study measured cortical thickness in two brain regions—the PCC and the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC)—and found that only PCC thickness correlated with the altered sense of self (disembodiment). No such link appeared for the pgACC. These results suggest the PCC plays a key role in ketamine's effects on self-experience, a feature shared with other fast-acting antidepressants that also produce psychedelic-like effects.