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NEW RESEARCH SHOWS DRUG IMPROVES CHANCES OF NORMAL LIFE FOR PEOPLE WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

April 19, 1999

The atypical schizophrenia drug risperidone improves patients' chances of a normal life by restoring learning capacity and through improving skills acquisition. Whilst traditional antipsychotic drugs can be effective on the better-known symptoms of schizophrenia - hallucinations and delusions - cognitive problems, such as learning difficulties, attention deficits and memory impairments, often remain.

New research, reported to psychiatrists on 21 April at the International Congress of Schizophrenia Research in Santa Fe, showed that patients on risperidone had better procedural learning compared with patients on conventional medication.

Procedural learning, a particular form of skills acquisition, requires practice of a certain task, without a conscious awareness of learning these skills. In schizophrenia, this type of learning is believed to be impaired. Procedural learning problems in schizophrenia hinder chances of successful rehabilitation; people with schizophrenia often cannot pick up new skills easily. Patients who been hospitalised for long spells, for example, can lose the ability to cook for themselves. They need to be able to relearn skills like this in order to live with a degree of independence.

A team from the Section of Cognitive Psychopharmacology at the Institute of Psychiatry, London, performed the research. Procedural learning ability was tested in three different groups: nine patients taking risperidone; 11 patients on conventional schizophrenia drugs and nine healthy volunteers. The patients were matched for both symptom levels and their duration of illness.
Patients on risperidone performed comparably to healthy volunteers and better than those on conventional medication. In contrast, people with schizophrenia on conventional medication show significantly impaired learning skills compared with the volunteers.

Dr Tonmoy Sharma, head of the Section of Cognitive Psychopharmacology, believes the findings promise much for the quality of life of patients with schizophrenia: 'Our ability to learn is essential for performing even mundane tasks, like catching a bus. Restoring this capacity in patients has a dramatic impact on self esteem and can also improve employment prospects.'

Some studies suggest that the use of these typical drugs may actually account for the procedural learning problems observed in schizophrenia (1) and therefore may actually hinder patients' reintegration into society. 'We need to change our expectations of antipsychotic medication,' explained Tonmoy Sharma. 'It is no longer enough for therapy to reduce delusions and hallucinations. Patients need to be able to pick up basic skills in order to function in society and achieve effective rehabilitation.'


1. Kumari V, et al. Effects of acute administration of d-amphetamine and haloperidol on procedural learning in man. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1997 Feb;129(3):271-6

The Section of Cognitive Psychopharmacology is a section in the Institute of Psychiatry that engages in groundbreaking research, and combines state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques with neuropsychology, pharmacology and physiology to gain further insight into psychiatric disorders. These techniques are expensive and the Section depends on donations to continue its research.







Institute of Psychiatry