The dynamics of AMPA receptors underlies the efficacy of ketamine in treatment resistant patients with depression
Molecular Psychiatry March 5, 2026 Waki Nakajima, Mai Hatano, Yohei Ohtani et al. 1 citation
About 30% of people with depression have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Ketamine can help, but how it works in the human brain was unclear. Using a PET tracer that shows AMPAR density, researchers found that AMPAR density was lower in patients with more severe TRD, and its distribution differed from healthy people. After ketamine, changes in AMPAR density in certain brain areas correlated with antidepressant effects, partially restoring normal AMPAR patterns. AMPAR dynamics underlie ketamine's antidepressant effect in TRD.