Neuropsychological impairments in neuroleptic-responder vs. -nonresponder schizophrenic patients and healthy volunteers

Joober, Ridha; Rouleau, Guy A; Lal, Samarthji; Dixon, Michael; O'Driscoll, Gillian; Palmour, Roberta; Annable, Lawrence; Bloom, David; Lalonde, Pierre; Labelle, Alain; Benkelfat, Chawki

« Previous Next »Schizophrenia Research
Volume 53, Issue 3 , Pages 229-238, 15 January 2002

Neuropsychological impairments in neuroleptic-responder vs. -nonresponder schizophrenic patients and healthy volunteers

Ridha Joober
- Douglas Hospital Research Center, McGill University, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
Guy A Rouleau
- Montreal General Hospital Research Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Que., Canada
Samarthji Lal
- Douglas Hospital Research Center, McGill University, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
Michael Dixon
- Douglas Hospital Research Center, McGill University, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
Gillian O'Driscoll
- Douglas Hospital Research Center, McGill University, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
Roberta Palmour
- Department of Psychiatry, Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
Lawrence Annable
- Department of Psychiatry, Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
David Bloom
- Douglas Hospital Research Center, McGill University, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
Pierre Lalonde
- L.H. Lafontaine Hospital, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada
Alain Labelle
- Royal Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont., Canada
Chawki Benkelfat
- Department of Psychiatry, Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Que., H3A 1A1, Canada
- Corresponding author. Address: Department of psychiatry, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Que., Canada, H3A 1A1. Tel.: +1-514-398-6732; fax: +1-514-398-4866

Received 21 October 2000; accepted 16 May 2001.

Abstract

To determine whether two groups of schizophrenic patients representing the two extremes of the neuroleptic response-spectrum (consistent responders vs. consistent nonresponders) differ with respect to their neuropsychological profile. Neuroleptic-responder (R; n=36) and -nonresponder (NR; n=39) schizophrenic patients were recruited according to a priori defined criteria of responsiveness to typical neuroleptics. Seven neuropsychological domains were assessed and compared between groups: attention-vigilance, abstraction-flexibility, spatial organization, visual-motor processing, visual memory, verbal abilities, and verbal memory and learning. All measures were standardized using the scores of 36 healthy volunteers. NR schizophrenic patients performed worse in all neuropsychological domains compared to normal controls and R schizophrenic patients. However, only performances on visual memory, verbal abilities, and verbal memory and learning were significantly poorer in NR compared to R patients. Only the latter domain significantly differentiated NR patients from the other two groups. R patients performed at an intermediate level in all domains. This report of differences in neuropsychological profile between neuroleptic-responder and -nonresponder schizophrenic patients adds to the growing evidence supporting the value of distinguishing schizophrenic patients on the basis of their therapeutic response to neuroleptics.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, Neuropsychology, Therapeutic response