Normal spatial memory following postseizure treatment with ketamine: selective damage attenuates memory deficits in brain-damaged rodents.

Within 30 min after the initiation of status epilepticus (SE) by lithium and pilocarpine, rats were injected with either acepromazine or ketamine. Compared to the rats that had received the acepromazine, the group that had received the ketamine displayed more accurate spatial memory. Their scores did not differ significantly from normal (non-seized) controls. Although the ketamine treatment did not significantly change the amount of neuronal loss within about 100 Paxinos and Watson structures, it was neuroprotective for several structures within the thalamus and portions of the temporal and parietal cortices. Ketamine-treated rats, however, displayed markedly more damage within the entorhinal cortices and amygdalohippocampal area.