A common psychiatric drug makes females less likely to take risks, but has zero effect on males.
April 15, 2026
Original Paper
Sex-Specific Effects of the Atypical Antipsychotic Risperidone on Risky Decision-making
SSRN · 6560004
The Takeaway
We often assume that psychiatric medications work roughly the same way in everyone, but this study shows a massive sex divide. In low-to-medium doses, the drug risperidone significantly reduced 'risky decision-making' in females, but it had no effect on the males' risk-taking behavior. This reveals a fundamental, biological difference in how male and female brains assess risk and respond to common medication. It’s a huge wake-up call for the medical world, which often tests drugs primarily on males and assumes the results apply to everyone. If we want to treat mental health effectively, we have to start accounting for these deep-seated differences. One size definitely does not fit all in medicine.
From the abstract
Risperidone is an atypical antipsychotic that exerts widespread effects on cognitive functioning. Antipsychotics are most often administered to individuals with schizophrenia, providing relief from positive symptoms primarily through antagonism of the D2 dopamine receptor. One behavior that is often abnormal in schizophrenia and is partially mediated by the D2 receptor is risky decision-making. Therefore, it is critical to understand how antipsychotics impact risky decision-making in healthy sub