Antipsychotic drugs are commonly prescribed to help relieve symptoms in patients experiencing their first episode of psychosis. However, there's a high risk of relapse when these medications are stopped, and the reasons behind this are not well understood. This study looked into what happens in the brain when antipsychotic drugs are discontinued. Researchers compared the brain’s capacity to produce dopamine in the striatum and its receptor availability in first-episode psychosis patients before and six weeks after they stopped taking antipsychotic drugs. They also included healthy volunteers for comparison. The study found significant changes in the dopamine synthesis capacity in patients who relapsed compared to those who remained stable and healthy volunteers during the six weeks without medication. However, there was no significant difference in the availability of dopamine receptors among the relapsed patients, non-relapsed patients, and healthy controls. These findings suggest that abnormal dopamine synthesis in striatum may trigger psychotic relapse after stopping antipsychotic drugs in patients with first-episode psychosis. This insight could help improve strategies for preventing relapse in these patients.