SSRI enhances sensitivity to background outcomes and modulates response rates: a randomized double blind study of instrumental action and depression

Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have immediate effects on synaptic levels of serotonin but their therapeutic effects are often delayed. This delay has been suggested to reflect time required for new learning and therefore that SSRIs might be having effects on the learning process. We examined the effects of elevating serotonin levels, through short-term SSRI administration (escitalopram), on learning about perceptions of instrumental control. A randomised double blind procedure was used to allocate healthy people, categorised as mildly depressed (high BDI >= 10: n = 76) or not depressed (low BDI