Selective effect of lithium on cognitive performance in man.
The effects of lithium on psychomotor performance were examined in six healthy male volunteers (aged 26-31 years) and compared with those of a similar control population. Three computerised psychomotor tests (serial reaction time, semantic reasoning and syntatic reasoning) were administered before lithium, after 5 and 22 days of lithium carbonate (800 mg/d) and 4 days and 1 month after stopping the lithium. The only significant effect was an impairment of semantic reasoning during the chronic (22 day) test. This suggests a selective effect of lithium on associative mental tasks and may explain the subjects' experience of slowing in recall of object names whilst taking lithium.
D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008094:Lithium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012660:Semantics; D013850:Thinking / Q000187:drug effects; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000187:drug effects
D008094:Lithium