A Comparison of the Psychological Effects of Acute and Chronic Administration of Chlorpromazine and Secobarbital (Quinalbarbitone) in Schizophrenic Patients

Abstract

In two previous studies (3 and 4) certain psychological effects of single doses of chlorpromazine and secobarbital (quinalbarbitone) were studied in young normal subjects. It was found that 100 and 200 mg. of chlorpromazine had a greater effect on tests of motor co-ordination than did 100 and 200 mg. of secobarbital, respectively, and that 200 mg. of secobarbital had a greater effect on a test related to intellectual functioning than did 200 mg. of chlorpromazine. The results in our study of the effects of single doses of chlorpromazine differed from the results of studies of the effects of chronic administration of chlorpromazine by Lehmann and Hanrahan (5) and Shaten et al. (7). These investigators found that chronic administration of chlorpromazine to schizophrenic patients was followed by improvement or only slight impairment in performance on most of the psychological tests used. The differences between the results we have obtained following administration of single doses of chlorpromazine to normal subjects, and the results of Lehmann and Hanrahan and Shaten et al. could be attributed either to differences between the effects of chronic and acute administration of chlorpromazine or to differences in the response between normal subjects and schizophrenic patients.