Ketamine

The emergence of ketamine--previously known as a combat anesthetic and club drug--as a treatment for depression.

Ketamine, approved in 2019 by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of depression, has been touted by scientists and media reports as something approaching a miracle cure. This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series chronicles the ascent of a drug that has been around for fifty years--in previous incarnations, a Vietnam-era combat anesthetic and a popular club drug--that has now been reinvented as a treatment for depression. Bita Moghaddam, a leading researcher in neuropharmacology, explains the scientific history and the biology of ketamine, its clinical use, and its recently discovered antidepressant effects, for the nonspecialist reader.Series Foreword ix
Preface xi
1 The Molecule Ketamine 1
2 Uses of Ketamine 17
3 Neuroscience of Ketamine 31
4 Ketamine as an Antidepressant 65
5 How Does Ketamine Produce Antidepressant Effects? 101
6 Safety Concerns with Ketamine and Esketamine 121
7 Where Do We Go from Here? 141
Acknowledgments 155
Glossary 157
Notes 161
Further Reading 177
Index 179Bita Moghaddam is a leading researcher in the field of neuropsychopharmacology. She is Ruth Matarazzo Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.