Quetiapine and flupentixol differentially improve anterior cingulate cortex function in schizophrenia patients: an event-related potential study.

Atypical antipsychotic agents are a frequently and effectively used treatment in schizophrenia and psychotic disorders. Other than conventional antipsychotics, which mainly exert their pharmacological effect in subcortical dopaminergic systems, atypical antipsychotics additionally affect partly serotonergically innervated structures within prefrontal areas, such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, only few controlled, randomized studies have so far investigated direct and indirect effects of atypical antipsychotics on the ACC and, up until now, no clinical investigation has exclusively addressed the specific effects of quetiapine on ACC function.