Could a common antidepressant help brain function in frontotemporal dementia?
NCT ID NCT06604520
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether the antidepressant vortioxetine can improve mood symptoms and thinking abilities in people with early-stage behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Participants will take the medication for 12 weeks and undergo brain scans and memory tests before and after treatment. The study aims to see if the drug leads to positive changes in brain activity and symptom relief.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 50 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Mar 2025
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2029
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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45 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
FTD Patients Inclusion Criteria: 1. Male or Female 2. Age 45 and above 3. Diagnosis of possible or probable bvFTD based on international consensus criteria for behavioral variant FTD (FTDC) 4. The presence of at least one of the following affective symptoms on the 12-item Neuropsychiatric Inventory: depression, anxiety, irritability, or agitation 5. A global Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR®) plus National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) Behavior and Language Domains global score (CDR® plus NACC FTLD) less than or equal to one 6. Patients must be medically stable 7. Vortioxetine treatment is clinically indicated 8. Competent to provide informed consent Exclusion Criteria: 1. No history of drug or alcohol dependence within six months prior to study entry 2. Negative toxicology screening for drugs of abuse 3. Subject must not be pregnant or nursing 4. No contraindications to Vortioxetine treatment 5. No contraindications for Magnetic Resonance (MR) scanning (e.g. metal implanted in the body) Healthy Controls Inclusion Criteria: 1. Male or Female 2. Age 45 and above 3. Subjects must be medically stable 4. Free of psychotropic medications 5. Competent to provide informed consent Exclusion Criteria: 1. No current or past history of neurological or psychiatric illness or substance abuse 2. Subject must not be pregnant or nursing 3. Negative toxicology screening for drugs of abuse 4. No contraindications for MR scanning (e.g. metal implanted in the body)
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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The Johns Hopkins Hospital
RECRUITINGBaltimore, Maryland, 21287, United States
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