No evidence for dependence of early cortical auditory processing on dopamine D2-receptor modulation:: a whole-head magnetoencephalographic study

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to determine the effect of neuroleptic challenge on brain responses in healthy subjects. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over design study, the dopamine D-2 receptor antagonist haloperidol (2 mg) was given orally to 12 healthy volunteers. The middle-latency auditory evoked magnetic fields (MAEF) were recorded 3 h after administration of haloperidol or placebo with a whole-head 122-channel MEG. Haloperidol did not significantly affect MAEF responses. The dipole moments and source locations of the responses were not significantly influenced by haloperidol. These results suggest that dopamine D-2 receptors are not involved in the early phases of auditory cortical processing. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.