Can a low dose of ketamine change how people with treatment-resistant depression remember their lives, deal with emotions, and make decisions?
Randomized parallel-arm placebo-controlled experimental medicine study (n=60) testing a single sub-anaesthetic IV infusion of ketamine 0.5 mg/kg versus saline in people with treatment-resistant depression to assess autobiographical memory, emotional processing and decision-making.
Details
The Glutamate Emotion Memory Study (GEMS) is a randomised, parallel-arm, placebo-controlled experimental medicine trial in adults with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder assessing a single sub-anaesthetic intravenous ketamine infusion (0.5 mg/kg over 40 minutes) versus saline.
Primary outcomes include change in valence ratings on an autobiographical memory task and fMRI measures of brain activation one day after treatment; secondary outcomes assess emotional recognition, reinforcement learning, decision-making tasks and pupillometry acutely and at follow-up.