Impact of acute administration of escitalopram on the processing of emotional and neutral images: A randomized crossover fMRI study of healthy women

Abstract

Background: Acute neural effects of antidepressant medication on emotion processing biases may provide the foundation on which clinical outcomes are based. Along with effects on positive and negative stimuli, acute effects on neutral stimuli may also relate to anti - depressant efficacy, yet these effects are still to be investigated. The present study therefore examined the impact of a single dose of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram (20 mg) on positive, negative and neutral stimuli using pharmaco-fMRI. Methods: Within a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover design, healthy women completed 2 sessions of treatment administration and fMRI scanning separa..