This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (16) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Barrett, S. L. Articles by King, D. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Barrett, S. L. Articles by King, D. J. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Effects of Amisulpride, Risperidone and Chlorpromazine on Auditory and Visual Latent Inhibition, Prepulse Inhibition, Executive Function and Eye Movements in Healthy Volunteers

Department of Therapeutics and Pharmacology, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, UK., s.l.barrett{at}qub.ac.uk

R. Bell

School Of Psychology, Queens University Of Belfast, Belfast, UK.

D. Watson

Department of Mental Health, Queens University Of Belfast, Belfast, UK.

D. J. King

Department of Therapeutics and Pharmacology, Queens University Of Belfast, Belfast, UK.

In view of the evidence that cognitive deficits in schizophrenia are critically important for long-term outcome, it is essential to establish the effects that the various antipsychotic compounds have on cognition, particularly second-generation drugs. This parallel group, placebo-controlled study aimed to compare the effects in healthy volunteers (n = 128) of acute doses of the atypical antipsychotics amisulpride (300 mg) and risperidone (3 mg) to those of chlorpromazine (100 mg) on tests thought relevant to the schizophrenic process: auditory and visual latent inhibition, prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response, executive function and eye movements. The drugs tested were not found to affect auditory latent inhibition, prepulse inhibition or executive functioning as measured by the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Battery and the FAS test of verbal fluency. However, risperidone disrupted and amisulpride showed a trend to disrupt visual latent inhibition. Although amisulpride did not affect eye movements, both risperidone and chlorpromazine decreased peak saccadic velocity and increased antisaccade error rates, which, in the risperidone group, correlated with drug-induced akathisia. It was concluded that single doses of these drugs appear to have little effect on cognition, but may affect eye movement parameters in accordance with the amount of sedation and akathisia they produce. The effect risperidone had on latent inhibition is likely to relate to its serotonergic properties. Furthermore, as the trend for disrupted visual latent inhibition following amisulpride was similar in nature to that which would be expected with amphetamine, it was concluded that its behaviour in this model is consistent with its preferential presynaptic dopamine antagonistic activity in low dose and its efficacy in the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Key Words: amisulpride • antipsychotic drugs • chlorpromazine • executive function • eye movements • latent inhibition • prepulse inhibition • risperidone • schizophrenia

Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 18, No. 2, 156-172 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0269881104042614


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. K. Hill, J. L. Reilly, M. S. H. Harris, T. Khine, and J. A. Sweeney Oculomotor and Neuropsychological Effects of Antipsychotic Treatment for Schizophrenia Schizophr Bull, May 1, 2008; 34(3): 494 - 506. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Linden, T. Scheel, and F.-X. Eich Improvement of patient compliance after switching from conventional neuroleptics to the atypical neuroleptic amisulpride J Psychopharmacol, November 1, 2006; 20(6): 815 - 823. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. J Hagan and D. N C Jones Predicting Drug Efficacy for Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia Schizophr Bull, October 1, 2005; 31(4): 830 - 853. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]