Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia

People with schizophrenia often suffer from mild-moderate cognitive impairment which often appears before the onset of psychosis, persists throughout people's lives even after their psychosis has gone away and can cause a number of negative effects on people's lives. Researchers from all over Europe, working as part of the European First Episode Trial (EUFEST), studied 498 people with schizophrenia to compare the effectiveness in treating cognitive impairment of the older, first-generation drug haloperidol with the newer second-generation ones amisulpride, olanzapine, quetiapine and ziprasidone. They found that all groups improved but that there was little difference between them and only a weak correlation between improvements in people's cognition and their other schizophrenia symptoms.

Davidson, Michael - Cognitive effects of antipsychotic drugs in first-episode schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder: a randomized, open-label clinical trial (EUFEST) American Journal of Psychiatry June 2009, 166(6), 675-682