CHRONIC HALOPERIDOL TREATMENT DOES NOT AFFECT STRUCTURE OF ATTENTION IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Results of a number of investigations indicate attention is a multifac torial construct composed of four distinct cognitive factors including focus-execute, sustain, encode and shift abilities. While investigato rs have partially or fully replicated this attentional structure in a number of clinical and nonclinical populations, no study has adequatel y examined the structure of attention in patients with schizophrenia w ho are not treated with antipsychotics. In this study, we examined the four-factor theory of attention in patients with schizophrenia while they were stabilized on haloperidol(with no adjunctive antiparkinsonia n/anticholinergic medications) and again when they were approximately 3 weeks drug free. Standard neuropsychological measures were used to a ssess attentional functions. Principal components analyses (varimax ro tation) of neuropsychological test scores in medicated and drug-free c onditions indicated that four factors accounted for 84.2 and 91.8 of t otal variance in medicated and unmedicated conditions, respectively. B ased on these results, it appears that: (1) haloperidol does not appre ciably affect structure of the attentional system in patients with sch izophrenia; (2) unmedicated patients with schizophrenia exhibit a simi lar structure of attention as both medicated patients and controls, su ggesting that attentional structure is 'normal' in schizophrenia: and (3) the four-factor attention theory is a useful and valid paradigm fo r evaluating attention in patients with schizophrenia, regardless of m edication status.