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Updated: Mar 1, 2026

Investigating the Effects of Antipsychotics and Schizotypy on the N400 Using Event-Related Potentials and Semantic Categorization
Published on: November 19, 2014
Neurophysiological Effects of Bitopertin in Schizophrenia
Joshua T Kantrowitz1, Karen A Nolan, Michael L Epstein
1From the *Schizophrenia Research Center, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg; †Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University; ‡Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine; §Graduate Center, City University of New York; and ∥Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY.
Purpose/Background:
Deficits in N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) function contribute to symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia and are associated with impaired generation of event-related potential measures including auditory mismatch negativity. Parallel studies of the NMDAR agonist D-serine have suggested that sensitivity of these measures to glutamate-based interventions is related to symptomatic and cognitive response. Bitopertin is a selective inhibitor of glycine transport. This study investigates effects of bitopertin on NMDAR-related event-related potential deficits in schizophrenia.
Methods/Procedures:
Patients with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder were treated with bitopertin (10 mg, n = 29), in a double-blind, parallel group investigation. Auditory mismatch negativity served as primary outcome measures. Secondary measures included clinical symptoms and neurocognitive performance.
Findings/Results:
No significant changes were seen with bitopertin for neurophysiological, clinical, or neurocognitive assessments.
Implications/Conclusions:
These findings represent the first assessment of the effect of bitopertin on neurophysiological biomarkers. Bitopertin did not significantly affect either symptoms or NMDAR-related biomarkers at the dose tested (10 mg). Mismatch negativity showed high test-retest reliability, supporting its use as a target engagement measure.
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