Trial reportMolecular psychiatry2023
Effects of escitalopram on synaptic density in the healthy human brain: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Molecular psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04239339 (Serotonergic Modulation of Cognition, Emotion and Brain Activation in Healthy Volunteers), which is not on this map. Cited by 34 papers, 2 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.
Serotonergic Modulation of Cognition, Emotion and Brain Activation in Healthy Volunteers
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Alterations in resting-state brain activity patterns following antidepressant treatment: insights from a coordinate-based meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors citalopram and escitalopram on glucolipid metabolism: a systematic review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Computational modelling and neural correlates of reinforcement learning following three-week escitalopram: a double-blind, placebo-controlled semi-randomised study.Translational psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Mechanisms of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in Treatment-Resistant Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Cortico-Striatal Circuitry, Glutamatergic Dysregulation, and Neuroplastic Constraints.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- In vivo imaging of synaptic density in psychotropic-free adults with autism spectrum disorder: a [¹¹C]UCB-J PET study.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- The working lives of neuronal 5-HTRSC chemical biology · 2026Review
- The role of psychopharmacology and cognitive neuroscience in understanding the brain in the treatment of psychiatric disorders and neurological diseases for the benefit of society.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Assessment of noninvasive quantification of [European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- Autism and Cortical Thickness Deviation From Neurotypical Controls: Evidence for a Spatial Association With Serotonin Receptors.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Article
- Synaptic density in the hippocampus of depressed patients: A quantitative electron microscopic study.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2026Article
- Quantitative monitoring of ketamine's impact on synaptic density usingMolecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Article
- Motor signs in late life depression relate to altered subcortical synaptic density and gray matter volume: anNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Impact of chronic SSRI administration on memory parameters, lipid components and membrane properties in C57Bl/6J mice.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Lower synaptic density in mood circuitry underlies depression in Parkinson's disease.Brain communications · 2026Article
- Relationship between hippocampal volume and treatment response before and after escitalopram administration in patients with depression.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- Peripartum sertraline impacts maternal neurobehavioral and neurodegenerative mechanisms in pregnant and postpartum mice.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Disorder at the Synapse: How the Active Inference Framework Unifies Competing Perspectives on Depression.Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Cannabidiol reverses depression-like behaviors by enhancing hippocampal synaptic plasticity in rats with chronic restraint stress.Veterinary world · 2025Article
- Neurophysiological correlates of ketamine-induced dissociative state in bipolar disorder: insights from real-world clinical settings.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are widely used for treating neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the exact mechanism of action and why effects can take several weeks to manifest is not clear. The hypothesis of neuroplasticity is supported by preclinical studies, but the evidence in humans is limited. Here, we investigate the effects of the SSRI escitalopram on presynaptic density as a proxy for synaptic plasticity. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study (NCT04239339), 32 healthy participants with no history of psychiatric or cognitive disorders were randomized to receive daily oral dosing of either 20 mg escitalopram (n = 17) or a placebo (n = 15). After an intervention period of 3-5 weeks, participants underwent a [
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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.