Risperidone in first-episode psychosis: a longitudinal, exploratory voxel-based morphometric study

Previous studies have provided evidence supporting a neuroplastic effect of atypical antipsychotics. The present investigation explores the short-term effects of risperidone on brain parenchyma by performing voxel-based morphometry on baseline and 6-week follow-up MRI scans obtained from 15 neuroleptic-naïve individuals with first-episode psychosis treated with risperidone and 15 healthy controls. The risperidone-treated subjects demonstrated changes in grey matter and white matter in several brain regions, including superior temporal gyrus. No areas of change were found in controls. The results of this exploratory investigation support the possibility that risperidone has short-term effects on brain parenchyma in individuals with first-episode psychosis.