Psychosis after ketamine: What happens in the brain?
A new study in rats suggests that ketamine could increase 'background noise' in the brain, potentially leading to experiences of psychosis.
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A new study in rats suggests that ketamine could increase 'background noise' in the brain, potentially leading to experiences of psychosis.
An international team of researchers has found that ketamine, being an NMDA receptor inhibitor, increases the brain background noise, causing higher entropy o
By inhibiting NMDA receptors, ketamine increases noise to gamma frequencies in one layer of the thalamic nucleus and one lay of the somatosensory cortex. Findings suggest psychosis may be triggered by an increase in background noise impairing thalamocortical neurons which may be caused by a malfunction in NMDA receptors affecting the balance of inhibition and excitation in the brain.
An international team of researchers has found that ketamine, being an NMDA receptor inhibitor, increases the brain's background noise, causing higher entropy of incoming sensory signals and disrupting their transmission between the thalamus and the cortex.