Alzheimers disease (AD) is a devastating illness, estimated to affect 5 million patients in
the United States alone and projected to increase dramatically over the next decades as the
population ages unless preventive measures can be developed. The investigators have
preliminary evidence that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants lower
the amount of amyloid plaques in the human brain. The interventions now propose to study the
effects of an SSRI (escitalopram) on levels of amyloid beta peptide (the major constituent of
the plaques) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of cognitively normal older adults.