Tardive dyskinesia is associated with impaired retrieval from long-term memory: the Curacao Extrapyramidal syndromes study: IV

Tardive dyskinesia may be associated with cognitive dysfunction, It is not clear whether this dysfunction occurs in the form of a global or specific c ognitive deficit. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a well-defined c atchment area (Curacao, The Netherlands Antilles). All schizophrenic inpati ents who had been taking neuroleptic medication for at least 3 months and w ho were younger than 65 years were included (n = 53). Tardive dyskinesia wa s assessed with the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale. The neuropsycholog ical assessment comprised tests of memory, executive function, and speed of information processing. Of the six cognitive measures, only delayed recall was significantly associated with orofacial dyskinesia. Limb-truncal dyski nesia was not associated with any of the cognitive measures. The pattern of memory impairment is consistent with there being a frontal-subcortical dis turbance in orofacial dyskinesia. The results underscore the importance of using specific cognitive test procedures in the search for the cognitive co rrelates of dyskinesia. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.