The Effect of Attention/Information Processing Impairment of Tardive Dyskinesia and Neuroleptics in Chronic Schizophrenics

In this article we report the results of a test of the hypothesis that a form of attention/information processing dysfunction, attentional set impairment, is exacerbated by facial-oral tardive dyskinesia in schizophrenics. This hypothesis was tested in the context of a study that was aimed at determining whether the Reaction Time Crossover Effect, a well-established form of attentional set impairment in schizophrenia, was "affected" by neuroleptic treatment. Our results indicate that the crossover effect is resistant to modification by neuroleptics, but that it is exacerbated by facial-oral tardive dyskinesia. We speculate that neurophysiological mechanisms underlying tardive dyskinesia interact with or are similar to those underlying attentional set impairment.