Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19306038›Full record

Trial reportJournal of neurology2009

A double blind placebo RCT to investigate the effects of serotonergic modulation on brain excitability and motor recovery in stroke patients.

Michele Acler, E Robol, A Fiaschi, P Manganotti

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of neurology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
57citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
5.4field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

57 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 137 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for stroke recovery.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021
    Pooled it
  4. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for stroke recovery.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019
    Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for stroke recovery.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012
    Pooled it
  8. Trial
  9. Modulation of premotor cortex response to sequence motor learning during escitalopram intake.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2021
    Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Trial
  12. Chronic Enhancement of Serotonin Facilitates Excitatory Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation-Induced Neuroplasticity.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2016
    Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Effect of antidepressants on the course of disability following stroke.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2011
    Trial
  16. Trial
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Michele AclerDepartment of Neurological and Visual Science, University of Verona, Policlinico Gianbattista Rossi, Pzzle LA Scuro, 37100 Verona, Italy.
E Robol
A Fiaschi
P Manganotti
University of Verona · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Motor excitability is increased in both hemispheres in stroke patients during motor recovery. Pharmacologically controlled changes of cortical excitability might be beneficial for synaptic plasticity and therefore facilitate functional recovery after a brain lesion. In particular, it has been suggested that antidepressant drugs can modulate motor excitability. Several recent reports suggest the possibility of monitoring pharmacological effects on brain excitability through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The aim of this study was to investigate motor area excitability in patients with stroke after oral administration of citalopram. We conducted a prospective randomised placebo controlled study. Twenty patients with unilateral stroke were included in the study: ten patients treated by antidepressive drug and ten patients with placebo. A selective serotonergic drug (citalopram) or a placebo was administered using a mean dosage of 10 mg/day in combination with physiotherapy. Motor cortex excitability was studied by single and paired transcranial magnetic stimulation. TMS recording was tested before (T1) and 1 month after (T2) beginning drug treatment. Patients treated by the serotonergic drug, compared to patients that received a placebo, showed a significant improvement in neurological status as measured by NIHSS and a decrease of motor excitability over the unaffected hemisphere, while no differences were observed over the affected hemisphere. Our findings suggest that treatment with serotonergic drugs can bring about a significant decrease of the motor cortex excitability in stroke patients with effects on both the affected and unaffected hemispheres associated with a better motor recovery.

Indexed as

Administration, OralAgedBrainCitalopramDominance, CerebralDouble-Blind MethodEvoked Potentials, MotorExtremitiesFemaleFunctional LateralityHumansMaleMiddle AgedMovement DisordersParesisRecovery of FunctionCitalopramSelective Serotonin Reuptake InhibitorsSerotonin

Identifiers

PMID19306038
OpenAlexW2078932584

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.