Helmes, Edward (2016) Influence of psychotropic drugs upon neuropsychological test performance. International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal, 5 (3). pp. 1-10.

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Abstract

Commonly used psychotropic medications are widely presumed to have deleterious effects on neuropsychological test performance. However, given the special difficulties of neuropsychological assessment with psychiatric populations, these effects have rarely been directly examined for differential, quantitative effects on test scores. A comprehensive neuropsychological test battery is described that assesses executive functions, memory, language comprehension, motor and sensory functions, and manual praxis. Data are presented on 233 psychiatric patients (70 females, 163 males) referred for neuropsychological assessment. All people with known or suspected brain damage were excluded, with 100 not taking any type of psychoactive medication. Comparisons between an unmedicated group and those taking the most common medications showed differences on tests of perseverative responses and praxis. No effects for nonverbal memory, simple motor functions, basic intellectual processes or visuomotor functions were noted. Implications for the assessment of people taking psychotropic medications are discussed.

Item ID:	40763
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2321-7235
Keywords:	psychotropic drugs, neurological tests, psychiatric patients, executive functions, praxis
Additional Information:	© 2016 Helmes. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Date Deposited:	25 Jul 2016 22:05
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5202 Biological psychology > 520203 Cognitive neuroscience @ 100%
SEO Codes:	92 HEALTH > 9201 Clinical Health (Organs, Diseases and Abnormal Conditions) > 920111 Nervous System and Disorders @ 100%
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