Abstract: As a dissociative anesthetic, ketamine is widely used in clinical surgery anesthesia. Because of its hallucinogenic effect, ketamine has been abused in different degrees aroud the world. Ketamine abuse increases the burden of family and social expenditure because it can cause many aspects of cognitive dysfunction. In view of the crucial role of hippocampus in cognitive activities, this paper reviews the relationship between cognitive dysfunction caused by ketamine abuse with the structural and functional changes of hippocampus. The aim is to provide new ideas and strategies for the prevention and treatment of cognitive dysfunction caused by ketamine abuse.

Key words: ketamine, substance-related disorders, cognition disorders, hippocampus, neurons, apoptosis, cell death