Ventral tegmental area/midbrain functional connectivity and response to antipsychotic medication in schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT: Medication management in schizophrenia is a lengthy process, as the lack of clinical response can only be confirmed after at least 4 weeks of antipsychotic treatment at a therapeutic dose. Thus, there is a clear need for the discovery of biomarkers that have the potential to accelerate the management of treatment. Using resting-state functional MRI, we examined the functional connectivity of the ventral tegmental area (VTA), the origin of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine projections, in 21 healthy controls and 21 unmedicated patients with schizophrenia at baseline (pre-treatment) and after 1 week of treatment with the antipsychotic drug risperidone (1-week post-treatment). Group-level functional connectivity maps were obtained and group differences in connectivity were assessed on the groups

SUBMITTER: Hadley JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3924537 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature