Abstract #3617

Multi-delay Simultaneous-Multi-Slice pCASL Imaging of Acute Treatment Effects of Ketamine in Major Depression

Kai Wang¹, Xingfeng Shao¹, Katherine Narr², Amber Leaver², Randall Espinoza², and Danny Wang¹

¹Laboratory of FMRI Technology (LOFT), Mark & Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Westwood, CA, United States

Sub-anesthetic dose of ketamine elicit acute and robust antidepressant effects, however the mechanism is still less understood. With a state-of-the-art Simultaneous Multislice EPI pCASL sequence, whole-brain rCBF and Arterial Transit Time (ATT) maps were acquired pre and post intravenous infusion of ketamine. Eight clusters were detected with significant CBF change, two of which (one in left inferior frontal gyrus, the other in right parietal lobe) were significantly correlated ( r=-0.7, p=0.04; r=-0.74, p=0.03 respectively) with Hamilton Depression rating score. This study suggests that possible mechanism of the antidepressant effects of ketamine is to increase CBF of certain mood- and attention-related brain regions.

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