Project Summary

Sergio Paradiso, M.D., Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of the University of Iowa, will use brain imaging to study how newer antipsychotics seem to improve social cognition in people with schizophrenia compared to older medications. To determine how medications influence the neural substrates of social perception, Dr. Paradiso proposes to compare brain activity of clinically stable patients first examined while taking a conventional antipsychotic (haloperidol) and then while taking new generation antipsychotics (olanzapine or risperidone). Patients will perform a task involving perception of facial expression of emotions while brain activity is recorded using fMRI. Dr. Paradiso expects olanzapine and risperidone will improve perception of socially salient emotional material and enhance brain activity in regions that take part in social perception. Results should provide a brain-based rationale for choosing from the available medications based on the effects on social cognition, and foster research in the development of novel treatments aimed at improving the functioning of the brain substrates associated with social perception deficits in schizophrenia.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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