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RECRUITING
NCT05809609
NA

Glutamate Emotion Memory Study

Sponsor: University of Oxford

View on ClinicalTrials.gov

Summary

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.

Official title: Does Modulation of Glutamate Transmission in the Brain Using a Sub-anaesthetic Dose of Ketamine Affect Autobiographical Memory, Emotional Processing and Decision-making in Treatment-resistant Depression?

Key Details

Gender

All

Age Range

20 Years - 60 Years

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Enrollment

60

Start Date

2022-07-01

Completion Date

2024-12-28

Last Updated

2024-05-21

Healthy Volunteers

No

Interventions

DRUG

Ketamine Hydrochloride

Ketamine is a high trapping NMDA receptor antagonist which has rapid and reliable antidepressant effects in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who fail to respond to at least two antidepressant trials of adequate dose and duration.

OTHER

No intervention (placebo)

Placebo injection (0.9% sodium chloride)

Locations (1)

Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford

Oxford, United Kingdom