Summary
Chronic schizophrenic patients on daily administrations of carphenazine were clinically rated by two separate methods and measured by two types of performance tests. One was an attention test (CPT) and one a cognitive or associative test (DSST). Before medication the subjects performed poorly on the attention test but showed significant improvement during the course of medication. They showed no similar improvement on the cognitive test. Clinical improvement was also manifested and this correlated positively with improvement on the attention test. No such significant correlation existed between the DSST scores and the clinical ratings.
The results of the study were discussed in light of the hypothesis that schizophrenic patients are hyperaroused. The fact that patients showed improvement on the CPT and not the DSST gave further evidence to support the hypothesis that phenothiazines have an effect on the selective areas of the brain and that these areas may be inherently related to the underlying factors in schizophrenia.
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This work was supported in part by USPHS, NIMH Grant MHO3312.
The medication carphenazine was supplied by The Wyeth Company.
NIH Career Development Awardee 2K3-GM-1759.
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Orzack, M.H., Kornetsky, C. & Freeman, H. The effects of daily administration of carphenazine on attention in the schizophrenic patient. Psychopharmacologia 11, 31–38 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00401506
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00401506