Glutamic acid
Glutamate is also a neurotransmitter (see below), which makes it one of the most abundant molecules in the brain. Malignant brain tumors known as glioma or glioblastoma exploit this phenomenon by using glutamate as an energy source, especially when these tumors become more dependent on glutamate due to mutations in the gene "IDH1".
Dorsal nexus
Since glutamate is the most abundant and major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, pathophysiological changes in glutamatergic signaling are likely to affect neurobehavioral plasticity, information processing and large-scales changes in functional brain connectivity.Ketamine, a fast-acting general anesthetic derived from phencyclidine and use as a pediatric inductor, plays a non-well known role in the neural network dynamics at the healthy brain . The administration of ketamine in abnormal brain has the potential of reduce the increased function of the networks that are seen in depression. The therapeutic potential of ketamine may be explained by reversing disturbances in the glutamatergic system and restoring parts of a disrupted neurobehavioral homeostasis where several structural, metabolic, and functional abnormalities have taken place. Long term ketamine treatments lead to cognitive impairment including problems of short-term memory, visual and verbal memory. On the other hand, short term treatments are generally well tolerated and any damage may be reversible.