Citation

Reilly JL, Harris MS, Khine TT, Keshavan MS, Sweeney JA. Biol. Psychiatry 2007; 62(7): 818-821.

Affiliation

Center for Cognitive Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. jreilly@psych.uic.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.10.031

PMID

17300756

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study sought to replicate previous findings of worsened performance on a translational spatial working memory task among antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia patients after antipsychotic treatment and to extend these findings by examining whether changes in the allocation of covert attention contribute to this effect. METHODS: Fourteen antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients performed an oculomotor delayed response task before and 6 weeks after antipsychotic treatment (risperidone n = 11; olanzapine n = 3). Fifteen matched healthy individuals were studied in parallel. RESULTS: Patients' pretreatment deficit in accurately remembering spatial locations was exacerbated by antipsychotic treatment, consistent with previous findings; however, this occurred only when covert attention was directed away from remembered locations during delay periods. CONCLUSIONS: Disruption in the allocation of covert attention might contribute to patients' decline in spatial working memory after antipsychotic treatment. Alterations in prefrontal dopaminergic systems or reduced thalamocortical drive might account for this apparent adverse cognitive effect of antipsychotic treatment.

Language: en