Neurofunctional Predictors of Escitalopram Treatment Response in Adolescents With Anxiety

Summary

Neurofunctional Predictors of Escitalopram Treatment Response in Adolescents with Anxiety. To determine the effects of escitalopram on functional activation patterns during a Continuous Performance Task with Emotional and Neutral Distracters, the CPT-END. To examine baseline functional activity and functional connectivity profiles in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex as markers of subsequent treatment response to escitalopram in adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). To use proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) to examine glutamatergic and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-related abnormalities in the anterior cingulate in adolescents with GAD as compared to healthy adolescents.

Timeline

Start

2015-05

Primary completion

2019-05

Completion

2020-05

Publications

• Results Strawn JR, Mills JA, Schroeder H, Mossman SA, Varney ST, Ramsey LB, Poweleit EA, Desta Z, Cecil K, DelBello MP. Escitalopram in Adolescents With Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study. J Clin Psychiatry. 2020 Aug 25;81(5):20m13396. doi: 10.4088/JCP.20m13396.
• Results Lu L, Li H, Mills JA, Schroeder H, Mossman SA, Varney ST, Cecil KM, Huang X, Gong Q, Levine A, DelBello MP, Sweeny JA, Strawn JR. Greater Dynamic and Lower Static Functional Brain Connectivity Prospectively Predict Placebo Response in Pediatric Generalized Anxiety Disorder. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2020 Dec;30(10):606-616. doi: 10.1089/cap.2020.0024. Epub 2020 Jul 24.
• Marusak HA, Zundel CG, Shakir T, Ely SL, Carpenter C, Shampine M, Tamimi R, Matsko M, Rogers S, Losiowski J, O'Mara E, Jaster AM, Sharma K, deRoon-Cassini TA, Hillard CJ, Schroeder HK, Mills JA, Strawn JR, Barcelona J. Circulating endocannabinoids in children and adolescents: associations with anxiety and the impact of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2025 Sep;50(10):1606-1614. doi: 10.1038/s41386-025-02155-7. Epub 2025 Jun 27.
• Lu L, Li H, Baumel WT, Mills JA, Cecil KM, Schroeder HK, Mossman SA, Huang X, Gong Q, Sweeney JA, Strawn JR. Acute neurofunctional effects of escitalopram during emotional processing in pediatric anxiety: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2022 Apr;47(5):1081-1087. doi: 10.1038/s41386-021-01186-0. Epub 2021 Sep 27.
• Lu L, Mills JA, Li H, Schroeder HK, Mossman SA, Varney ST, Cecil KM, Huang X, Gong Q, Ramsey LB, DelBello MP, Sweeney JA, Strawn JR. Acute Neurofunctional Effects of Escitalopram in Pediatric Anxiety: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2021 Oct;60(10):1309-1318. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2020.11.023. Epub 2021 Feb 4.

Drugs

Indications