RELMED-I study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Reinforcement learning mechanisms of pharmacological treatments for depression: a double-blind, four-arm, placebo-controlled multi-site trial in UK primary care. Trial 1.
IRAS ID
345935
Contact name
Quentin Huys
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCL Priment Clinical Trials Unit
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2024/07/157, UCL Data Protection Registration number
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
We want to understand how antidepressant medications work. Over the past 20 years, research has revealed that antidepressants can alter the brain's learning processes. However, it remains unclear if this is how antidepressants treat depression. Computer-based tasks that resemble games are used in research to study learning processes. The different ways people complete these tasks provide insights into how learning occurs in the brain.
Our aim is to find out if two different antidepressants, escitalopram and bupropion, affect learning processes in distinct ways. To achieve this, participants will complete tasks which allow us to measure learning processes.
People with low mood or depression who have no known contraindications to escitalopram and bupropion and who are eligible to take part will be recruited from GP practices at five sites in and around London, Oxford, Bristol, Nottingham and Newcastle. People who participate in the study will be randomly allocated to take either escitalopram or bupropion for 6 months (or in some cases a placebo for the first two weeks, thereafter one of the two antidepressants) and asked to complete a series of learning tasks on the computer at home. Everyone will complete the same tasks, but people in different groups will take different medications.
We will also ask participants to complete some questionnaires and we will invite participants to take part in two optional electroencephalography (EEG) sessions. We will ask participants to complete the learning tasks and/or the questionnaires again on six occasions in the first six months and one last time after one year. At the end of the study we will compare the learning processes in the different groups. We hope this will help improve the way doctors decide which antidepressant to choose for a particular person.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/SC/0411
Date of REC Opinion
7 Jan 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion