Rapid agent restores pleasure-seeking ahead of other antidepressant action

Depression deconstructed — NIH study

A drug being studied as a fast-acting mood-lifter restored pleasure-seeking behavior independent of — and ahead of — its other antidepressant effects, in a National Institutes of Health trial. Within 40 minutes after a single infusion of ketamine, treatment-resistant depressed bipolar disorder patients experienced a reversal of a key symptom — loss of interest in pleasurable activities — which lasted up to 14 days. Brain scans traced the agent’s action to boosted activity in areas at the front and deep in the right hemisphere of the brain.

Rapid agent restores pleasure-seeking ahead of other antidepressant action

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This page was last updated on Friday, January 21, 2022