Functional Connectivity Between Auditory and Medial Temporal Lobe Networks in Antipsychotic-Naïve Patients With First-Episode Schizophrenia Predicts the Effects of Dopamine Antagonism on Auditory Verbal Hallucinations.

Background: Understanding how antipsychotic medication ameliorates auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) through modulation of brain circuitry is pivotal for understanding the pathophysiology of psychosis and for predicting treatment response.

Methods: This case-control study included examinations at baseline and at follow-up after 6 weeks. Initially, antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia who were experiencing AVHs were recruited together with healthy control participants.

Striatal Volume Increase After Six Weeks of Selective Dopamine D Receptor Blockade in First-Episode, Antipsychotic-Naïve Schizophrenia Patients.

Patients with chronic schizophrenia often display enlarged striatal volumes, and antipsychotic drugs may contribute via the dopamine D receptor (DR) blockade. Separating the effects of disease from medication is challenging due to the lack of a proper placebo-group. To address this, we conducted a longitudinal study of antipsychotic-naïve, first-episode schizophrenia patients to test the hypothesis that selective blockade of DR would induce a dose-dependent striatal volume increase.