Acute effects of sertraline, amitriptyline, and placebo on the psychomotor performance of healthy subjects over 50 years of age.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study in 12 subjects (greater than or equal to 50 years) compared the effects of single oral doses of sertraline (100 mg) and amitriptyline (50 mg) with placebo as assessed by psychomotor function testing. Unlike sertraline and placebo, amitriptyline increased tracking error severity and impaired digit/symbol substitution. Sertraline slightly improved flicker frequency recognition. Both active drugs caused subjective drowsiness, although amitriptyline's effect was greater and of longer duration. Both drugs impaired subjectively assessed performance. Sertraline caused nausea, and amitriptyline, dry mouth; sertraline tended to increase supine systolic blood pressure. The authors conclude that sertraline has a considerably less detrimental effect on psychomotor performance and may have a slight activating effect not found with amitriptyline.