Trial reportBiological psychiatry2010
Replication of scopolamine's antidepressant efficacy in major depressive disorder: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
Trial report in Biological psychiatry, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 111 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
A Safe Ketamine-Based Therapy for Treatment Resistant Depression
A Randomised Double-Blinded Placebo-Controlled Trial to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Scopolamine Compared to Placebo in Individuals With Bipolar Disorder Who Are Experiencing a Depressive Episode
Who cites it
111 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 237 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of scopolamine on memory and attention: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Pooled it
- Clinical Effectiveness of Muscarinic Receptor-Targeted Interventions in Neuropsychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review.CNS drugs · 2022Pooled it
- Investigational Drugs for the Treatment of Depression (Part 2): Glutamatergic, Cholinergic, Sestrin Modulators, and Other Agents.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- Ketamine as a potential treatment for suicidal ideation: a systematic review of the literature.Drugs in R&D · 2015Pooled it
- Randomised active controlled trial examining effects of aerobic exercise, cognitive and music interventions on depression, balance and mobility in schizophrenia.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Neurophysiological Changes Associated with Antidepressant Response to Ketamine Not Observed in a Negative Trial of Scopolamine in Major Depressive Disorder.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2019Trial
- Ninety-six hour ketamine infusion with co-administered clonidine for treatment-resistant depression: A pilot randomised controlled trial.The world journal of biological psychiatry : the official journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry · 2016Trial
- Antidepressant treatment history as a predictor of response to scopolamine: clinical implications.Journal of affective disorders · 2014Trial
- Trial
- Potential of pretreatment neural activity in the visual cortex during emotional processing to predict treatment response to scopolamine in major depressive disorder.JAMA psychiatry · 2013Trial
- Baseline mood-state measures as predictors of antidepressant response to scopolamine.Psychiatry research · 2012Trial
- Maintenance treatment of depression in old age: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled evaluation of the efficacy and safety of donepezil combined with antidepressant pharmacotherapy.Archives of general psychiatry · 2011Trial
- Scopolamine produces larger antidepressant and antianxiety effects in women than in men.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2010Trial
- Trial
- Comparing affective bias modification by first- and second-generation antidepressants in male rats using a translational behavioural task.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Scopolamine exerted antidepressant-like behavioral effects via restoring the synaptic plasticity in CRS-treated mice.Metabolic brain disease · 2025Article
- Synthetic surprise as the foundation of the psychedelic experience.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Review
- The Potential of Scopolamine as an Antidepressant in Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- HCN channel inhibitor induces ketamine-like rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in chronic social defeat stress model.Neurobiology of stress · 2023Article
- The acute effects of psychoactive drugs on emotional episodic memory encoding, consolidation, and retrieval: A comprehensive review.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Review
51 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWe previously reported that intravenous (IV) scopolamine administration produced rapid and robust antidepressant effects in a sample consisting of both unipolar and bipolar depressives. The present study aimed to replicate this finding in an independent sample limited to unipolar depressives.
methodsOutpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 23; 22 were included in analyses) participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. Subjects were randomized into either a P/S or S/P sequence (P = block of three placebo sessions; S = block of three scopolamine sessions; [4.0 microg/kg IV]). Sessions occurred 3 to 5 days apart, such that time spent in each block lasted 1.5 to 2 weeks and the interval between blocks was 3 to 5 days. The Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) served as the primary outcome measure.
resultsFollowing the initial block, the group receiving scopolamine first (S/P) showed a 32% reduction in MADRS scores (p < .001), which exceeded the corresponding change of 6.5% under placebo (P/S; p = .009), confirming the a-priori hypothesis. Improvement was significant at the first evaluation that followed scopolamine administration (p = .011). In Block 2, the P/S group showed a 53% reduction in MADRS scores (p = .001) following scopolamine versus placebo, whereas the reduction seen in S/P subjects who received scopolamine during Block 1 persisted as they received placebo during Block 2. Scopolamine induced drowsiness, blurred vision, dry mouth, light-headedness, and reduced blood pressure, which were sufficiently well tolerated that no subject dropped out because of side effects.
conclusionsThese results replicate previous finding that scopolamine produces a rapid and robust antidepressant response.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.