Pharmacotherapy for Cognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia

Overview

Cognitive dysfunction is found in many neuropsychiatric disorders. It becomes the centre of attention for many reasons, mainly because it is a very important factor influencing the functioning of the patients. The cognitive dysfunction involves several components, which are associated with a certain anatomical and functional substrate. Most studies were performed in patients with schizophrenia. The available pharmacotherapeutic possibilities include atypical antipsychotics and adjunctive treatment, which can further augment the effect of atypicals. The atypicals differ by their pharmacological profile, and this is also reflected in the differentiated effects on individual components. In comparison with typicals, atypical antipsychotics improve cognitive dysfunction more. The augmentation of basal neurotransmitters related to cognitive dysfunction (noradrenaline, acetylcholine, glutamate) and serotonin receptor modulators are studied. The cholinergic augmentation is primarily studied in dementia.

Key words:
cognitive dysfunction, first-episode schizophrenia, atypical antipsychotics, adjunctive treatment, augmentation.