Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci.  2014 Dec;12(3):215-217. 10.9758/cpn.2014.12.3.215.

Effects of Add-on Ramelteon on Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Schizophrenia: An Open-label Pilot Trial

• Shirayama
• Takahashi
• Suzuki M
• Tsuruoka Y
• Sato K

• KMID: 2279932
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.9758/cpn.2014.12.3.215

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
This open-label study examined the effects of ramelteon on cognitive functions in 10 outpatients with schizophrenia.
METHODS
Ramelteon (8 mg/day) was administered to 10 patients with schizophrenia for six months. The verbal fluency test, Trail-Making Test, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Stroop Test, the Digit Span Distraction Test, Iowa Gambling Task, the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test were evaluated at baseline and 6 months after treatment with ramelteon.
RESULTS
Ramelteon improved significantly the scores of Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Additionally, ramelteon exerted improvements in the verbal fluency and Iowa Gambling Task in 4 patients.
CONCLUSION
Ramelteon could be a potential therapeutic drug, in adjunctive treatment of learning and memory deficits seen in patients with schizophrenia.

Keyword

Ramelteon; Schizophrenia; Verbal learning

MeSH Terms

Gambling
Humans
Iowa
Learning
Memory Disorders
Outpatients
Schizophrenia*
Stroop Test
Verbal Learning
Wisconsin