Research suggests that treatment for schizophrenia may make the world less confusing

Implications for integration into society and job opportunities

Imagine you're at a party. There's music blaring and other guests are talking and laughing all around you. Most of us manage to hold our own conversations by ignoring these distractions. Making sense of what we see and hear relies on being able to filter out background noise and focus on relevant information. But, when our filtering skills are disrupted - as in schizophrenia - a normally stimulating environment becomes unpleasantly confusing and frightening.

New research from London's Institute of Psychiatry suggests that this ability - information processing - may be restored with drug treatment in people with schizophrenia. Reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the research reveals that clozapine, the atypical drug for schizophrenia, can restore information processing abilities in patients (1).

Researchers at the Section of Cognitive Psychopharmacology used an index of disrupted information processing, prepulse inhibition (PPI), in 11 patients with schizophrenia on clozapine, 11 patients on the older, typical antipsychotics and a group of healthy volunteers. In patients on clozapine and healthy controls, similar levels of PPI were found, indicating that information processing was intact. In patients with schizophrenia on typical antipsychotics, PPI was reduced, suggesting that information processing ability was still disrupted.

Dr. Tonmoy Sharma, the study's principal investigator and a consultant psychiatrist, emphasised the importance of restoring information processing; 'It is central to our ability to place sights and sounds in their correct context. Problems with information processing in schizophrenia can make the world a frightening and confusing place. This research shows that newer drugs can improve the outlook of people with schizophrenia.'

While traditional antipsychotics can be effective on the better-known symptoms of schizophrenia hallucinations and delusions - they do not treat cognitive symptoms such as problems with memory and attention. In order to hold down a job, an individual needs to be able to think clearly, learn and remember. It is these cognitive processes that are impaired in schizophrenia, with the result that very often they are unable to work (2).

Research such as this adds to a growing body of evidence that the so-called 'atypical' drugs can restore cognitive deficits present in schizophrenia and in doing so, have a significant impact of quality of life and employability in this condition.

Notes for editors:
Full article: Kumari, V., Soni, W., Sharma, T. Normalization of Information Processing Deficits in Schizophrenia With Clozapine. Am J Psychiatry 156:1046-1051, July 1999. Contact Jessica Sheringham for further information on the study and cognition in schizophrenia.

The Institute of Psychiatry is based at the Maudsley Hospital and is part of Kings College, London, UK. The Section of Cognitive Psychopharmacology is a section in the Institute of Psychiatry that engages in groundbreaking research, and combines state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques with neuropsychology, pharmacology and physiology to gain further insight into psychiatric disorders.