Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41236362›Full record

Trial reportInternational review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England)2025

Feasibility and tolerability of low-dose lithium for the treatment of agitation and abnormal motor behaviors in Frontotemporal Dementia.

Benjamin S Zide, Megan S Barker, Hannah E Silverman, Masood Manoochehri, Rachel Fremont, Colin Stein, Zachary J Kunicki, Seonjoo Lee, D P Devanand, Edward D Huey

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Psychiatric symptoms in young-onset dementia: from neurobiology to future therapies.International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England) · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Benjamin S ZideDepartment of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Megan S BarkerDepartment of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Hannah E SilvermanDepartment of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Masood ManoochehriDepartment of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Rachel FremontDepartment of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Colin SteinDepartment of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Zachary J KunickiDepartment of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Seonjoo LeeDepartment of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
D P DevanandDepartment of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Edward D HueyDepartment of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.

Funding

Clinical and Translational Science AwardUL1TR001873 · NCATS · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI REILLY, MUREDACH P · 2016 to 2025
$99.0M
Genetic basis of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's diseaseU01AG079850 · NIA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI Gary Wayne Beecham, Edward D Huey · 2023 to 2026
$3.0M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001873NIA NIH HHS U01 AG079850
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Agitation and abnormal motor behaviors are common, distressing symptoms of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). While these symptoms currently lack efficacious and safe pharmacological treatments, case reports in FTD and a clinical trial in Alzheimer's disease suggest that patients may benefit from lithium treatment. We designed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 12-week clinical trial to evaluate low-dose lithium for the treatment of agitation and abnormal motor behaviors in FTD. However, the trial did not meet its recruitment target (n = 60). This report assesses the trial's feasibility and tolerability using recruitment, study completion, and safety metrics. Sixteen adults with FTD (median age 59.5 years; 69% female) were enrolled from 2017 to 2021. Fourteen participants (88%) completed the trial. The majority of participants on lithium were taking the maximum daily dose by Week 12 (600 mg), had median (interquartile range) final serum lithium levels of 0.42 (0.37-0.57), and reported minimal side effects, including drowsiness, diarrhea, constipation and insomnia. Preliminary data from intended efficacy outcomes showed no median pre-post changes between treatment groups. Low-dose lithium is feasible and well-tolerated in an FTD population. Further systematic study of lithium and its efficacy to treat agitation and abnormal motor behaviors in FTD is warranted.

Indexed as

Frontotemporal DementiaPsychomotor AgitationAgedDouble-Blind MethodFeasibility StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle Agedabnormal motor behaviorsagitationFrontotemporal DementiaLithiumneuropsychiatric symptoms

Identifiers

PMID41236362
PMCPMC13213540

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.