The effect of risperidone on cognition in patients with schizophrenia

Objective: To evaluate the effect of risperidone on cognitive functions after both 6 weeks and 6 months of treatment and to determine whether any improvement on neuropsychological function relates to improvement in psychopa-thology. Method: Patients ’ psychiatric and extrapyramidal symptoms were assessed while they were receiving classical neuroleptic treatment and adjunctive medications. Patients were then reassessed after changing to a new treatment of risperidone. Results: During treatment with risperidone, schizophrenic patients displayed improved performance mainly on attentional components, specifically, selective attention and alertness. Conclusion: In patients who were given risperidone, there was a positive correlation between improvement in psychopathology and improvement in cognitive tests of explicit memory and alertness. (Can J Psychiatry 1996;41[2 Suppl]:35S−40S) Key Words: risperidone, atypical neuroleptics, schizophrenia, cognition, attention, memory, adverse effects In a recent paper on the impact of novel antipsychotics (1),Dr Gary Remington asked, “Do novel neuroleptics offer unique properties in altering neuropsychological decline, a finding which has been reported in a small number of studie