Acler 2009.

Methods	Study type: interventional (clinical trial) Intervention model: parallel assignment Primary purpose: treatment
Participants	20 participants Location: Italy Setting: inpatient Inclusion criteria: first‐ever ischaemic stroke, CT or MRI documenting a single monohemispheric lesion, age below 80 years, within 3 months of onset Exclusion criteria: major affective disorders, alcohol abuse and dementia leading to unco‐operative behaviour, pacemakers, metal in the head, concomitant neuropathies, systemic vasculopathies, major affective disorders Treatment: 10 people, mean age 68 ± 7 years, 6 men Control: 10 people, mean age 65 ± 7 years, 6 men
Interventions	Citalopram 10 mg daily Placebo: identical pill daily Duration of treatment: at least 4 months Duration of follow‐up: not stated
Outcomes	Motor cortex excitability NIHSS Lindmark Scale BI HDRS BDI No data on death, GI upset, bleeds or seizures
Funding source	Source of funding not stated; unclear whether or not a drug company was involved in the study
Notes	Dates of study not stated. Any conflicts of interest not stated
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Computer‐generated random numbers
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Method of allocation concealment not stated
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Stated blinded, placebo was 'an identical pill'
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Stated blinded
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	It is not stated whether data from all recruited participants are reported
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Side effects were not reported although they were assessed
Other bias	Unclear risk	−