Objective The objective of this study is to identify the top 10 research priorities on reducing and stopping psychiatric medication that reflect the perspectives and unmet needs of three key stakeholder groups (people with lived experience, family members/carers/supporters and healthcare professionals). Methods A priority-setting partnership was conducted using the James Lind Alliance’s seven-step process. This involved (1) creating an international Steering Group of key stakeholder representatives and (2) identifying potential partners; (3) gathering stakeholders’ uncertainties about reducing and stopping psychiatric medication using an online survey and summarising the survey responses; (4) checking the summary questions against existing evidence and verifying uncertainties; (5) shortlisting the questions using a second online survey; (6) determining the top 10 research questions through a prioritisation workshop; and (7) disseminating the results. Results A total of 3635 questions were collected in the initial survey from 884 respondents of which 32 questions were verified as uncertainties. These questions were then ranked in a second online survey by 526 respondents and the findings discussed in a final prioritisation workshop by 30 participants to produce the final top 10 list of research questions. These questions cover a range of areas including the most effective ways of safely reducing/stopping psychiatric medication and providing support to individuals undergoing the discontinuation process, as well as the best ways to educate healthcare professionals on this topic. Conclusion The top 10 list of research priorities was produced through extensive engagement with key stakeholders and highlights important uncertainties and gaps in the existing evidence base that need to be addressed by future research.

D-serine is the major D-amino acid in the mammalian central nervous system. As the dominant co-agonist of the endogenous synaptic NMDA receptor, D-serine plays a role in synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. Alterations in D-serine are linked to neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. Thus, it is of increasing interest to monitor the concentration of D-serine in vivo as a relevant player in dynamic neuron-glia network activity. Here we present a procedure for amperometric detection of D-serine with self-referencing ceramic-based microelectrode arrays (MEAs) coated with D-amino acid oxidase from the yeast Rhodotorula gracilis (RgDAAO). We demonstrate in vitro D-serine recordings with a mean sensitivity of 8.61 ± 0.83 pA/µM to D-serine, a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.17 ± 0.01 µM, and a selectivity ratio of 80:1 or greater for D-serine over ascorbic acid (mean ± SEM; n = 12) that can be used for freely moving studies.

It is well known that antipsychotic drugs (APDs) are more effective in reducing symptoms in women than in men, and that women are more sensitive to the side effects of APDs. Therefore, it is of great importance that sex differences in drug responses are considered already in the early stages of drug development. In this study, we investigated whether sex-specific differences could be observed in response to the commonly prescribed APDs olanzapine and risperidone using the conditioned avoidance response (CAR) test. To this end we tested the effect of 1.25 and 2.5 mg/kg olanzapine and 0.25 and 0.4 mg/kg risperidone using female and male Wistar rats in the CAR test. Whereas there were no significant differences between the female and male rats in response to either dose of olanzapine administration, an injection of 0.4 mg/kg risperidone significantly suppressed avoidance more in female rats than in male rats. In addition, we found that the estrous cycle of the female rats did not have a significant effect on the avoidance response. In conclusion, we show that there are sex-specific differences as well as similarities between female and male rats in the CAR test and novel APDs should be tested on female and male rats in the future.