Glutamate Emotion Memory Study

This interventional trial (n=60) conducted by the University of Oxford aims to assess the effects of ketamine on autobiographical memory, emotional processing, and decision-making in individuals with treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

Participants will receive either a single intravenous injection of ketamine hydrochloride or a placebo. The study will investigate the impact of ketamine on negative emotional bias associated with autobiographical memories, brain circuits linked to autobiographical memories, emotional processing, and reward processing. It will also explore various aspects of emotional recognition, recall, and decision-making using computer-based tasks.

The primary outcome measures include changes in the magnitude of negative and positive valence adjectives in autobiographical memory tasks and brain activation measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The study, which began in July 2022, is estimated to complete in February 2024 with an enrollment of 60 participants aged between 20 to 60 years. Contact for participation is available through the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford.

Trial Details

Clinical depression often includes a pessimistic view of things which have happened in the past and an impairment in the ability to experience pleasure or looking forward to things. A licensed drug called ketamine affects the levels of glutamate, a chemical messenger in the brain, and has been used as a treatment particularly for depression which hasn't got better with other types of medication. Glutamate plays a role in learning and memory so the investigators are interested in understanding how ketamine can affect how people with depression remember past negative and positive memories and how they experience reward. The investigators are conducting a study in depressed participants who did not improve with the standard antidepressant treatment to expand our understanding on how ketamine can influence memory, the way people understand emotions and learn from rewards and punishments. Study participants will undergo medical and psychiatric health screening, drug administration (ketamine or saline), questionnaires and computer tasks before and after the administration of the study drug, and an MRI scan after administration of the drug. MRI is a type of brain scan that allows us to see how the brain responds during for example memories of things which have happened in the past. This project will help us understand how NMDA antagonists may work in depression.

NCT Number NCT05809609

Data attribution

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