Risperidone vs. haloperidol on reaction time, manual dexterity, and motor learning in treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients.

Compared the effects of risperidone vs haloperidol on reaction time (RT), manual dexterity, and two types of motor learning in a sample of treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients. 56 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III-Revised (DSM-III-R) diagnosed schizophrenia inpatients participated in this randomized, double-blind comparison study. Measures of RT, manual dexterity, motor sequence learning, and gross motor learning were administered at baseline, after 4 wks of fixed-dose medication, and after 4 wks of flexible-dose medication. The results indicated that patients receiving risperidone showed greater improvement in RT and manual dexterity than patients receiving haloperidol. After covarying symptom changes and movement disorder ratings, the results remained significant. The two treatment groups did not differ on either measure of motor learning. The differences in performance in RT and manual dexterity may be due to a specific beneficial effect of risperidone, as opposed to a general reduction in extrapyramidal symptom liability, compared to haloperidol. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)