The effect of galantamine added to clozapine on cognition of five patients with schizophrenia

Although clozapine may be beneficial for the treatment of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, it may also impair some cognitive skills as a result of its anticholinergic activity. In this case series, the impact of galantamine administration on 5 patients with schizophrenia who had been treated with clozapine are reported. Neuropsychological assessment was administered before and after 8 weeks of 16 mg/d galantamine treatment. In this case series, galantamine was well tolerated by all of the patients. Three of the patients were much improved in sustained attention tasks. Most of the patients were also improved in psychomotor speed and selective attention tasks. Two patients with low pretreatment memory scores seemed to also be improved. Our results suggest that the possible role of galantamine as a cognitive enhancer in schizophrenia should be investigated in controlled trials.