Three Maryville College students ~ Psychology major Aryssa Kelsey ’26 of Townsend, Tennessee; Psychology major Lindsey Brasfield ’26 of Lenoir City, Tennessee; and Neuroscience major Grace Seal ’27 of Knoxville will have their work published in the scientific journal Behavioral Brain Research, an interdisciplinary journal that features articles on behavioral neuroscience.

The students conducted their work under the supervision of Dr. Jeff Kelly,  an MC assistant professor of neuroscience, and titled their findings “Ketamine Metabolites Promote Anxiolysis and Hydrocortisone Stress Buffering in Zebrafish.”

According to the professor, zebrafish are a great model organism for mental health research, with robust responses to stressors and anti-anxiety drugs similar to humans, which is why they chose them for this study. The fish are received from a commercial research supplier, but all breeding is done in-house to maintain the small colony in the College’s Sutton Science Center.

“Essentially, the idea is to look at how the metabolites of ketamine may promote fast-acting resistance to stress and anxiety,” Kelly said. “We study ketamine metabolites as a potential legal, unscheduled and convenient alternative to ketamine in the treatment of anxiety-related mental health issues.”

Ketamine is an anesthetic that is known to produce dissociative and sedative effects. The study aims to create a ketamine byproduct that will remove harmful effects while maintaining the drug’s benefits to create a safe and legalized anti-anxiety treatment for humans and animals.

According to Kelly, many researchers are arguing for FDA approval, while still keeping it as a scheduled controlled substance to minimize abuse potential.

Currently, there are a few facilities locally that administer IV ketamine with a prescription. However, no one prescribes metabolites, which, according to Kelly, gives room for growth.

To test this theory, the zebrafish were immersed in ketamine metabolite-infused water for 30 minutes rather than injected, which would have added stress that could interfere with data collection, according to Kelly.

The students, alongside their professor, first proposed the study for a faculty development grant to internally fund the research in March 2025. They began data collection for it in September and concluded their work in February 2026. According to Kelly, follow-up studies are still ongoing.

For these three students, the honor of this publication is certainly not lost to them.

“When I got the acceptance email, it was addressed to ‘Dr. Seal.’ I guess those addressing the email wouldn’t have assumed it would be a 19-year-old kid reading it,” Seal said. “At first, it made me laugh, but then I felt this sense of pride. I don’t think a huge number of people can say they got their scientific study published at 19 years old.”

According to Kelly, this experience has been valuable in preparing the three Scots for their future careers.

“They’ve all been able to gain some type of ownership over the project and meaningfully contribute beyond just being a second set of hands,” the professor said. “It’s been great to see them grow in confidence and capability in a short time, and gain new lab skills that will help their own professional development after graduating from Maryville College.”

Maryville College is a nationally ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges, located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville. Maryville College offers more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”

Karen Eldridge, Executive Director of Communications: karen.eldridge@maryvillecollege.edu.

Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook and Instagram. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our Free Newsletter.