Striatal Connectivity and Clinical Outcome in Psychosis

This is an observational neuroimaging treatment study. This study involves examining the neural circuitry of controlled treatment of patients presenting with a first-episode of psychosis with risperidone or aripiprazole. Patients who present for treatment of a first psychotic episode with a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis and who are eligible to undergo treatment with either risperidone or aripiprazole will be offered participation in the study. Clinical ratings, neuropsychological testing, neuroimaging and EEG will be conducted at baseline. Additionally, subjects will undergo the same assessments at week 12 to determine treatment-related biomarkers. Clinical ratings, including neurocognitive testing, will be conducted by blinded raters at study visits during treatment. Healthy controls (N=50) will also be recruited and scanned twice (12-week interval) to control for effects of time and practice.