Lurasidone Effects on Cognition and Functional Capacity in Schizophrenia

Abstract

Lurasidone is a novel atypical antipsychotic approved in the US and elsewhere for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar depression. The effect of lurasidone on cognition in patients with schizophrenia has been examined in several different studies, including short and long term studies. Lurasidone has been shown to improve measures of functional capacity as well as cognition and its cognitive enhancing potential has been compared to placebo and to active antipsychotic comparators. In specific, lurasidone has been reported to be superior to placebo and to quetiapine XR for cognitive functioning in a 6-week acute study along with a 6-month blinded extension, conducted in patients with schizophrenia. All doses of lurasidone assessed at study endpoint were superior to quetiapine during the extension study. When analyses of the effect of sleepiness and sedation were performed, only part of the cognitive benefit of lurasidone was attributable to its less sedating properties compared to quetiapine. Later research will need to replicate and expand these results, including examining cognitive benefits in other conditions.