Ketamine modulates hippocampal neurochemistry and functional connectivity: a combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy and resting-state fMRI study in healthy volunteers

A growing body of evidence suggests glutamate excess in schizophrenia and that N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) hypofunction on γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) interneurons disinhibiting pyramidal cells may be relevant to this hyperglutamatergic state. To better understand how NMDAR hypofunction affects the brain, we used magnetic resonance spectroscopy and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the effects of ketamine on hippocampal neurometabolite levels and functional connectivity in 15 healthy human subjects. We observed a ketamine-induced increase in hippocampal Glx (glutamate+glutamine; F=3.76; P=0.04), a decrease in fronto-temporal (t=4.92, PFDR<0.05, kE=2198, x=−30, y=52, z=14) and temporo-parietal functional connectivity (t=5.07, PFDR<0.05, kE=6094, x=−28, y=−36, z=−2), and a possible link between connectivity changes and elevated Glx. Our data empirically support that hippocampal glutamatergic elevation and resting-state network alterations may arise from NMDAR hypofunction and establish a proof of principle whereby experimental modelling of a disorder can help mechanistically integrate distinct neuroimaging abnormalities in schizophrenia.