Beneficial effect of atypical antipsychotics on prefrontal brain function in acute psychotic disorders

Disturbance of prefrontal brain functions is assumed to be responsible for prominent psychopathological symptoms in psychotic disorders. Treatment with atypical, in contrast to typical antipsychotics is considered as a possible strategy for an improvement of prefrontal brain function. In the present study, response control as a specific prefrontal brain function was assessed by means of the Nogo-anteriorization (NGA) derived from the event-related potentials elicited during a Go-NoGo task in a consecutive sample of 39 patients suffering from acute psychotic disorders (brief psychotic disorders, 298.8, n = 34 and schizoaffective disorders, 295.70, n = 5; cycloid psychoses according to the Leonhard classification). A highly significant positive correlation between the amount of antipsychotic medication in terms of chlorpromazine equivalents per day and the NGA as a measure of prefrontal response control was only found in the subgroup of patients treated exclusively or predominantly with atypical antipsychotics but not for those treated with typical antipsychotics. These results are in line with the notion that atypical antipsychotics may exert a beneficial effect on prefrontal brain function.