Lisa Monteggia's Experiment: The Cause Of Depression

In Lisa Monteggia’s experiment, mice were put in a tub of water. The mice classified as depressed rapidly quit and floated with little movement. However, exactly thirty minutes after the mice obtained a single dose of ketamine, the mice prone to depression showed motivation to paddle for a longer period of time. Her experiment displays how ketamine successfully can help ease depression symptoms. This happens because ketamine binds and blocks a receptor in the brain called NMDAR. This receptor causes anesthetic effects. Ketamine also changes the levels of certain proteins, which causes the neurons to make more of a protein called BDNF. Theses findings imply that ketamine and NMDAR affect a new set of molecules, which are involved in depression.