Objectives To investigate the effects of ketamine on the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells（ BMSCs） into neural cells in vitro. Methods SFP-grade rats were sacrificed， and the rat BMSCs were isolated and purified， and then induced with different concentrations of ketamine： 0 μmol/L （control group）， 1 μmol/L（ experiment group 1）， and 10 μmol/L（ experiment group 2）. Cell proliferation were detected by MTT assay， apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry， and microtubule-associated protein 2（ MAP2） and glial fibrillary acidic protein（ GFAP） expression levels were detected by Western blot. Results The cell survival rates， the relative expression of MAP2 and GFAP protein in the experiment group 2 and the experiment group 1 were significantly higher than those in the control group， and those in the experimental group 2 were significantly higher those in the experimental group 1， at 24 h and 48 h after treatment（ P＜0.05）. The apoptosis rates of the experiment group 2 and the experiment group 1 were significantly lower than that of the control group （P＜ 0.05）， and that of the experimental group 2 were also significantly lower than that of the experimental group 1 （P ＜ 0.05）. Conclusions Ketamine can increase the MAP2 and GFAP proteins of BMSCs， promote the proliferation of BMSCs and inhibit cell apoptosis， thus promote their differentiation into neural cells in vitro.