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Imaging of neurons in the brains of living mice reveals how synapses between cells are eliminated in response to stress and reinstated by an antidepressant dose of ketamine. The findings, which are presented in Science today (April 11), show that while ketamine-induced changes in behavior precede this synaptogenesis, the increased connectivity is required to maintain the drug-modified behavior.
“It’s beautiful work. It’s very elegant and technically sophisticated,” says neuroscientist Jason Radley of the University of Iowa who was not involved with the research. “I think this paper is poised to make a significant contribution.”
“They trace the whole [process] from before stress, after stress, and then after ketamine,” says psychiatrist and neuroscientist Alex Kwan of Yale School of Medicine who also did not participate in the research, “and they have some very interesting findings in terms of how ketamine affects prefrontal cortical circuits.”
The paper is ...
