Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28533517›Full record

Trial reportMolecular psychiatry2018

Vortioxetine reduces BOLD signal during performance of the N-back working memory task: a randomised neuroimaging trial in remitted depressed patients and healthy controls.

J Smith, M Browning, S Conen, R Smallman, J Buchbjerg, K G Larsen, C K Olsen, S R Christensen, G R Dawson, J F Deakin and 4 more

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Molecular psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
5.0field-weighted citation impact, top 4% 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

42 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 90 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Use of vortioxetine in different neurological fields: a systematic review and future perspectives.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025
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  10. Combined Cognitive Training and Vortioxetine Mitigates Age-Related Declines in Functional Brain Network Integrity.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2023
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  11. Change in prefrontal activity and executive functions after action-based cognitive remediation in bipolar disorder: a randomized controlled trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2021
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  19. Aberrant brain dynamics in major depressive disorder during working memory task.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

J SmithUniversity Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
M BrowningUniversity Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
S ConenNeuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
R SmallmanNeuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
J BuchbjergLundbeck, Valby, Denmark.
K G LarsenLundbeck, Valby, Denmark.
C K OlsenLundbeck, Valby, Denmark.
S R ChristensenLundbeck, Valby, Denmark.
G R DawsonP1vital, Wallingford, UK.
J F DeakinNeuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
P HawkinsCentre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
R MorrisCentre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
G GoodwinUniversity Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
C J HarmerUniversity Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Lundbeck (Denmark) · DKUniversity of Oxford · GBUniversity of Manchester · GBHR Wallingford · GBKing's College London · GBWellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging · GB

Funding

Department of Health
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cognitive dysfunction is common in depression during both acute episodes and remission. Vortioxetine is a novel multimodal antidepressant that has improved cognitive function including executive function in depressed patients in randomised placebo-controlled clinical trials. However, it is unclear whether vortioxetine is able to target directly the neural circuitry implicated in the cognitive deficits in depression. Remitted depressed (n=48) and healthy volunteers (n=48) were randomised to receive 14 days treatment with 20 mg vortioxetine or placebo in a double-blind design. The effects of treatment on functional magnetic resonance imaging responses during an N-back working memory task were assessed at baseline and at the end of treatment. Neuropsychological measures of executive function, speed and information processing, attention and learning and memory were examined with the Trail Making Test (TMT), Rey Auditory Learning Test and Digit Symbol Substitution Test before and after treatment; subjective cognitive function was assessed using the Perceived Deficits Questionnaire (PDQ). Compared with placebo, vortioxetine reduced activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left hippocampus during the N-back task compared with placebo. Vortioxetine also increased TMT-A performance and self-reported cognitive function on the PDQ. These effects were seen across both subject groups. Vortioxetine modulates neural responses across a circuit subserving working memory in a direction opposite to the changes described in depression, when performance is maintained. This study provides evidence that vortioxetine has direct effects on the neural circuitry supporting cognitive function that can be dissociated from its effects on the mood symptoms of depression.

Indexed as

AdultAffectAntidepressive AgentsCognitionCognition DisordersCognitive DysfunctionDepressionDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMajor Depressive DisorderMaleMemory, Short-TermMiddle AgedNeuroimagingAntidepressive AgentsVortioxetine

Identifiers

PMID28533517
PMCPMC5984095
OpenAlexW2619447850

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.