Overcoming Depression by Inhibition of Neural Burst Firing

The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist ketamine has been found to have rapid and long-lasting antidepressive effects. Two elegant studies from Hailan Hu's laboratory (Cui et al., 2018; Yang et al., 2018) showed that ketamine blocks burst firing of neurons in the lateral habenula (LHb), rapidly relieving symptoms of depression. The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist ketamine has been found to have rapid and long-lasting antidepressive effects. Two elegant studies from Hailan Hu's laboratory (Cui et al., 2018; Yang et al., 2018) showed that ketamine blocks burst firing of neurons in the lateral habenula (LHb), rapidly relieving symptoms of depression. © 2018 Elsevier Inc101Nsci