Detecting neuroplastic effects induced by ketamine in healthy human subjects: A multimodal approach

We investigated ketamine's neuroplastic effects in healthy human subjects using integrated Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) measures before and 1-8 days after a single psychedelic dose of ketamine (1 mg/kg, intravenous). Eleven male participants underwent two PET/MRI scans with [¹¹C]-UCBJ (synaptic density/plasticity), ¹H-MRS (glutamate and GABA) and resting-state fMRI (intrinsic brain activity, functional connectivity), before and after ketamine. While group-level analyses showed no significant increases in PET synaptic markers, ketamine administration resulted in significantly elevated glutamate levels within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Functional connectivity analyses revealed reduced coupling between the ACC and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and increased coupling between the ACC and the amygdala in the days following ketamine administration. Our multimodal analysis revealed that participants showing an increase in [¹¹C]-UCBJ volume distribution (VT), a putative index of synaptic plasticity, showed a correlated reduction in intrinsic activity within regions belonging to the default mode network (DMN). By linking molecular, cellular and network-level changes, our results point to the DMN as a central hub where ketamine may reshape brain hierarchies in the long term, providing new directions for understanding its therapeutic mechanisms and developing targeted treatments.