Cognitive effects of risperidone in children with autism and irritable behavior.
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.
Aman
Michael G
MG
Nisonger Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Hollway
Jill A
JA
McDougle
Christopher J
CJ
Scahill
Lawrence
L
Tierney
Elaine
E
McCracken
James T
JT
Arnold
L Eugene
LE
Vitiello
Benedetto
B
Ritz
Louise
L
Gavaletz
Allison
A
Cronin
Pegeen
P
Swiezy
Naomi
N
Wheeler
Courtney
C
Koenig
Kathleen
K
Ghuman
Jaswinder K
JK
Posey
David J
DJ
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*
D018967:Risperidone