Abstract
Background: The present study compared the effects of risperidone vs. haloperidol on reaction time, manual dexterity, and two types of motor learning in a sample of treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients. Methods: Fifty-six DSM-III-R diagnosed schizophrenia inpatients participated in a randomized, double-blind comparison of risperidone vs. haloperidol. Measures of reaction time, manual dexterity, motor sequence learning, and gross motor learning were administered at baseline, after 4 weeks of fixed-dose medication, and after 4 weeks of flexible-dose medication. Results: The results indicated that patients receiving risperidone showed greater improvement in reaction time and manual dexterity than patients receiving haloperidol. After covarying symptom changes and movement disorder : ratings, the results remained significant. The two treatment groups did not differ on either measure of motor: learning. Conclusions: The differences in performance in reaction time and manual dexterity may be due to a specific beneficial effect of risperidone, as opposed to a general reduction in extrapyramidal symptom liability, compared to haloperidol.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 726-732 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Biological Psychiatry |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 15 Oct 1998 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The project received support from the NIMH UCLA Clinical Research Center for the Study of Schizophrenia, an investigator-initiated grant from the Janssen Research Foundation, and a Merit Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Keywords
- Haloperidol
- Manual dexterity
- Psychomotor speed
- Reaction time
- Risperidone
- Schizophrenia