Ketamine, Cognition and ECT: Another Systematic Review

Out on PubMed, From investigators in Canada and the US, is this paper:



The Effects of Ketamine on Cognition in Unipolar and Bipolar Depression: A Systematic Review.

Vaccarino SR, Adamsahib F, Milev RV, Parikh SV, Lam RW, Blier P, Kennedy SH, Ladha KS, Bhat V.J Clin Psychiatry. 2022 Jan 4;83(1):21r13870. doi: 10.4088/JCP.21r13870.PMID: 34985832


Just what we needed, another systematic review involving ketamine and ECT, confirming equivocal ("no negative") results on cognition.

Since J Clin Psych makes it difficult to get the full article, we only have the above abstract, but I am quite confident that, even with the full text, the conclusion would be, "nothing to see here, move along..."

My summary of the literature of ECT and ketamine: it is a fine alternate anesthetic agent, either alone or combined with another agent; it may enhance seizure elicitation, may slightly speed up response time, and has "no negative" effect on cognition.

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