Effects of quetiapine on cognitive functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2007 Mar;22(2):77-84. doi: 10.1097/YIC.0b013e32801182f7.

Abstract

In recent years, growing evidence supports the efficacy of antipsychotic addition to serotonin reuptake inhibitors in patients with treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder. This study is the first to investigate the effects of antipsychotic addition on cognitive functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients. Cognitive functioning was evaluated at baseline and at endpoint of an 8-week double-blind, placebo-controlled quetiapine addition trial. Neurocognitive performance was compared between the placebo and quetiapine group and between responders and nonresponders. The neuropsychological test battery consisted of the national adult reading test, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Trail Making Test, verbal fluency, the Stroop Color Word Test, the California Verbal Learning Test, the Rey Complex Figure Task, the Continuous Performance Test, and the Digit Symbol Substitution. The results of this study suggest that quetiapine addition to serotonin reuptake inhibitors has no major effects on cognitive functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients, apart from some evidence for a failure to maintain set on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. It is proposed that this failure may be caused by attention difficulties owing to somnolence.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antipsychotic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Attention / drug effects
  • Cognition / drug effects*
  • Cognition Disorders / drug therapy*
  • Cognition Disorders / etiology
  • Color Perception / drug effects
  • Dibenzothiazepines / pharmacology
  • Dibenzothiazepines / therapeutic use*
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory / drug effects
  • Middle Aged
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / complications
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / drug therapy*
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / physiopathology
  • Psychomotor Performance / drug effects
  • Quetiapine Fumarate
  • Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Verbal Behavior / drug effects

Substances

  • Antipsychotic Agents
  • Dibenzothiazepines
  • Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors
  • Quetiapine Fumarate