The authors evaluated the effects of antipsychotic medication and
schizophrenia on speed of information processing. Medicated (N - 20) as
well as unmedicated (N = 16) schizophrenic patients showed more evidence of
slow information processing than did depressed control subjects (N = 20).
The medicated schizophrenic patients had higher levels of general
psychopathology but also showed superior information processing speed
compared with the unmedicated schizophrenic patients. These data confirm
that the schizophrenic patients are slow information processors and that
antipsychotic medication probably does not cause, and may actually reverse,
slowness of information processing in schizophrenic patients.Abstract Teaser