Practice-related improvement in information processing with novel antipsychotic treatment

Background: Attentional deficits are prominent in schizophrenia, and skill learning is impaired. Novel antipsychotic treatment has been reported to im prove certain cognitive skills in schizophrenic patients. but no informatio n is yet available about the effect of sewer medications on skill learning. Methods: Clinically stable patients with schizophrenia (n=16) and chronica lly hospitalized inpatients (n=8) were recruited while receiving convention al antipsychotic treatment. Subjects were tested at baseline on a visual co ntinuous performance test (CPT). performed alone and simultaneously with an auditory CPT. Normal controls (n=8) were also tested at baseline. The inpa tients and half of the outpatients were switched to treatment with risperid one. All patients then performed the visual CPT on a daily basis and perfor med the dual tasks once per week, for 4 weeks. Results: Patients who remain ed on conventional medications did not improve in their performance despite the extensive practice on the test. Both chronic and stable patients recei ving risperidone treatment manifested a statistically significant (P<0.05) improvement from baseline on both single and dual-task visual CPT. Stable o utpatients performed significantly better at the end of the protocol than t he normal controls performance at baseline (P<0.05). Implications: These re sults suggest that practice-related improvements in the performance of info rmation processing tests are enhanced by novel antipsychotic medications. A lthough the specific biological mechanism of this effect is not yet known, the results may suggest that use of newer medications will enhance skill de velopment and perhaps facilitate rehabilitation of patients with schizophre nia. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.