Ketamine's Pro-cognitive Potential

Ketamine, a nonselective N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, is often used in clinical settings as an anesthetic. In recent years, ketamine has been shown to improve symptoms for psychiatric conditions such as major depressive disorder (MDD), treatment-resistant depression (TRD), and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), potentially via pro-cognitive effects on brain function. This study reviews literature on ketamine’s potential pro-cognitive effects and discusses potential applications of ketamine as a treatment for cognitive deficits in certain diseases. The findings indicate that ketamine primarily has pro-cognitive effects for MDD, TRD, and PTSD with comorbid depression. These pro-cognitive effects were detected on measures of executive function, processing speed, and episodic memory. In a subset of studies that included neuroimaging measures, ketamine’s effects were associated with changes in brain regions that experience disease related neurodegeneration. Based on neuroimaging data, the pro-cognitive effects of ketamine might be used to facilitate the treatment of depression associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.