BACKGROUND: Neurocognitive deficits are core features of schizophrenia that are linked to functional outcome for the disorder. Recent studies and reviews have concluded that newer antipsychotic medications are better for neurocognitive deficits than conventional antipsychotic medications; however, one difficulty in interpreting this literature is that the comparisons have mainly been with high doses of conventional medications. This study examined the neurocognitive effects of low-dose haloperidol compared with risperidone over a 2-year period. METHODS:Sixty-two patients were randomly assigned to medication (starting at 6 mg of each medication) and administered neurocognitive batteries six times over the course of follow-up. At 6 months, the mean dose of haloperidol was 5.0 mg, and the mean dose of risperidone was 6.0 mg. Neurocognitive data were reduced into cluster scores and a global summary score. RESULTS: We found no significant overall differences in treatment effects on the cluster scores or the global score. The global score revealed a significant group by time interaction, reflecting the fact that the haloperidol group tended to improve initially and then stay stable, whereas the risperidone group improved more gradually over the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: This study did not provide support for neurocognitive advantages of a newer antipsychotic medication over a low-dose conventional medication. We speculate that conventional medications may have neurocognitive benefits at low doses that are neutralized or reversed at higher doses.
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BACKGROUND:Neurocognitive deficits are core features of schizophrenia that are linked to functional outcome for the disorder. Recent studies and reviews have concluded that newer antipsychotic medications are better for neurocognitive deficits than conventional antipsychotic medications; however, one difficulty in interpreting this literature is that the comparisons have mainly been with high doses of conventional medications. This study examined the neurocognitive effects of low-dose haloperidol compared with risperidone over a 2-year period. METHODS: Sixty-two patients were randomly assigned to medication (starting at 6 mg of each medication) and administered neurocognitive batteries six times over the course of follow-up. At 6 months, the mean dose of haloperidol was 5.0 mg, and the mean dose of risperidone was 6.0 mg. Neurocognitive data were reduced into cluster scores and a global summary score. RESULTS: We found no significant overall differences in treatment effects on the cluster scores or the global score. The global score revealed a significant group by time interaction, reflecting the fact that the haloperidol group tended to improve initially and then stay stable, whereas the risperidone group improved more gradually over the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: This study did not provide support for neurocognitive advantages of a newer antipsychotic medication over a low-dose conventional medication. We speculate that conventional medications may have neurocognitive benefits at low doses that are neutralized or reversed at higher doses.
Authors: Dwight Dickinson; Terry E Goldberg; James M Gold; Brita Elvevåg; Daniel R Weinberger Journal: Schizophr Bull Date: 2010-03-29 Impact factor: 9.306
Authors: Peter F Buckley; Donna A Wirshing; Prameet Bhushan; Joseph M Pierre; Seth A Resnick; William C Wirshing Journal: CNS Drugs Date: 2007 Impact factor: 5.749
Authors: Rosa Ayesa-Arriola; Jose Manuel Rodríguez-Sánchez; Rocío Pérez-Iglesias; Roberto Roiz-Santiáñez; Obdulia Martínez-García; Jose Sánchez-Moreno; Rafael Tabarés-Seisdedos; Jose L Vázquez-Barquero; Benedicto Crespo-Facorro Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2013-03-02 Impact factor: 4.530