Abstract
A study is described of effects of a nootropic drug on chronic schizophrenia. The nootropic drugs act on the central nervous system with the cerebral cortex as their target. Chronic schizophrenic patients on the drug showed improvement in object naming and in tests where the patient was required to indicate the number of times he had been tapped. Improvements were also noted in learning and memory tasks. In dichotic listening the patients showed a reduction in the amount of incorrect verbal responses produced. There were no improvements in symptom rating or social behaviour rating. These results suggest some cognitive improvement but little if any change in the disease state of the patient.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angyal, L., Fenyvesi, T.: EEG — Verlaufsuntersuchungen an Schizophrenen unter psychiatrischer Pharmakotherapie. Psychiatr. Neurol. Med. Psychol. (Leipz.) 21, 148–151 (1969)
Antonelli, F.: Therapy in psychosomatic medicine. vol. 3. Pharmacotherapeutic Tribune. Rome: Edizione L. Pozzi 1977
Beaumont, J. G., Dimond, S. J.: Brain disconnection and Schizophrenia. Br. J. Psychiatry 23, 661–662 (1973)
Brown, G. W., Bone, M., Dalison, B., Wing, J. K.: Schizophrenia and social care. Maudsley Monograph No. 17. London, Oxford University Press 1966
Burešová, O., Bureš, J.: Mechanisms of interhemispheric transfer of visual information in rats. Acta Neurobiol. Exp. 33, 673–688 (1973)
Carr, S. A.: The effects of piracetam on interhemisheric transfer and memory in chronic schizophrenics. Research project. Department of Psychology. University College Cardiff 1977
Dimond, S. J.: Drugs to improve learning in man. In: The neuropsychology of learning disorders, R. M. Knights, D. J. Bakker, eds., pp. 367–379. Baltimore: University Park 1976
Dimond, S. J.: Introducing neuropsychology. Springfield: C. C. Thomas 1978
Dimond, S. J., Brouwers, E. Y. M.: Increase in the power of human memory in normal man through the use of drugs. Psychopharmacology 49, 307–309 (1976)
Fish, B., Hagin, B.: Visual motor disorders in infants at risk for schizophrenia. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 27, 594–598 (1972)
Flor-Henry, P.: Ictal and inter-ictal psychiatric manifestations in epilepsy. Specific or non-specific. Epilepsia 13, 773–783 (1972)
Green, P.: Interhemispheric transfer in schizophrenia. Research project. Department of Psychology. University College Cardiff, 1974
Gruzelier, J. H., Venables, P. H.: Bimodality and lateral asymmetry of skin conductance orienting activity in schizophrenics. Biol. Psychiatr. 8, 55–73 (1974)
Giurgea, C. E.: The nootropic approach to the pharmacology of the integrative action of the brain. Cond. Reflex 8, 108–115 (1973)
Giurgea, C. E., Moyersoons, F.: Contribution a l'étude electrophysiologique et pharmacologicue de la transmission calleuse. Les syndromes de disconnexion calleuse chez l'homme. Colloque international de Lyon. F. Michel, B. Schott, eds.
HorKovic, G.: Lateral preference peculiarities in schizophrenics. Stud. Psychol. 14, 239–244 (1972)
Leff, J. P.: Maintenance therapy and schizophrenia. Br. J. Hosp. Med. 8, 377–380 (1972)
Lishman, W. A., McMeekan, E. R. L.: Hand preference patterns in psychiatric patients. Br. J. Psychiatry 129, 158–166 (1976)
Pryce, I. G.: The selection of long-stay patients for hostels: A study of patients selected for an experimental hostel and for local authority hostels. Psychol. Med. 7, 331–343 (1977)
Pryce, I. G., Gray, C.: Trial of piracetam in chronic schizophrenia. Br. J. Psychiatry 132, 205 (letter)
Rosenthal, R., Bigelow, L. B.: Quantitative brain measurements in chronic schizophrenia. Br. J. Psychiatry 121, 259–264 (1972)
Wing, J. K.: A simple and reliable sub-classification of chronic schizophrenia. J. Ment. Sci. 107, 862–875 (1967)
Wadsworth, W. V., Wells, B. W. P., Scott, R. F.: An experimental investigation of the qualitative differences between the work performance of normals and chronic schizophrenics. Psychiatr. Q. (Suppl.) 37, 325–335 (1963)
Weckroth, J., Mikkonen, H.: On the effect of UCB 6215 on certain intellectual, perceptual and psychomotor performance traits of subjectively rated mental state. Communication of the 30th International Congress on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Sept. 1972. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dimond, S.J., Scammell, R.E., Pryce, I.G. et al. Some effects of piracetam (UCB 6215 nootropyl) on chronic schizophrenia. Psychopharmacology 64, 341–348 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427522
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00427522