title: Cognitive effects of risperidone in children with autism and irritable behavior.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this research was to explore the effects of risperidone on cognitive processes in children with autism and irritable behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight children, ages 5-17 years with autism and severe behavioral disturbance, were randomly assigned to risperidone (0.5 to 3.5 mg/day) or placebo for 8 weeks. This sample of 38 was a subset of 101 subjects who participated in the clinical trial; 63 were unable to perform the cognitive tasks. A double-blind placebo-controlled parallel groups design was used. Dependent measures included tests of sustained attention, verbal learning, hand-eye coordination, and spatial memory assessed before, during, and after the 8-week treatment. Changes in performance were compared by repeated measures ANOVA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-nine boys and 9 girls with autism and severe behavioral disturbance and a mental age >or=18 months completed the cognitive part of the study. No decline in performance occurred with risperidone. Performance on a cancellation task (number of correct detections) and a verbal learning task (word recognition) was better on risperidone than on placebo (without correction for multiplicity). Equivocal improvement also occurred on a spatial memory task. There were no significant differences between treatment conditions on the Purdue Pegboard (hand-eye coordination) task or the Analog Classroom Task (timed math test).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Risperidone given to children with autism at doses up to 3.5 mg for up to 8 weeks appears to have no detrimental effect on cognitive performance.
authors.affiliation: Nisonger Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Aman
authors.forename: Jill A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hollway
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: McDougle
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scahill
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tierney
authors.forename: James T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: McCracken
authors.forename: L Eugene
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: Benedetto
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vitiello
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ritz
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gavaletz
authors.forename: Pegeen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cronin
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Swiezy
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koenig
authors.forename: Jaswinder K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ghuman
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Posey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000523:psychology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007508:Irritable Mood / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018967:Risperidone / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D018967:Risperidone