Ketamine has been in clinical use for over half a century, yet its precise mechanisms of
action remain mysterious for the large part. Its hypnotic effects appear to be largely mediated
by blockade of NMDA and HCN1 receptors, but cholinergic, aminergic, and opioid systems
appear to play both a positive and negative modulatory role in both sedation and analgesia.
Ketamine's effects in chronic pain, and as an antidepressant, far outlast the actual drug
levels, and are probably mediated by a secondary increase in structural synaptic …