SynthesisThe international journal of neuropsychopharmacology2018
Anti-Dementia Drugs for Psychopathology and Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pharmacological interventions for social cognitive impairments in schizophrenia: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Histamine H3 Receptor Antagonist/Inverse Agonist Including Betahistine for Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2025Pooled it
- Role of memantine in adult migraine: a systematic review and network meta-analysis to compare memantine with existing migraine preventive medications.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Varenicline for cognitive impairment in people with schizophrenia: systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychopharmacology · 2020Pooled it
- Antagonizing NRG1-ERBB4 signaling pathway with spironolactone for the treatment of schizophrenia: results of a randomized controlled drug repositioning clinical trial.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Finding the Right Dose: NMDA Receptor-Modulating Treatments for Cognitive and Plasticity Deficits in Schizophrenia and the Role of Pharmacodynamic Target Engagement.Biological psychiatry · 2025Review
- Clinical practice guidelines for assessment and management of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- Pharmacological Treatments of Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia-An Update.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Pharmacological management of neurocognitive impairment in schizophrenia: A narrative review.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2024Review
- Activation of prefrontal parvalbumin interneurons ameliorates working memory deficit even under clinically comparable antipsychotic treatment in a mouse model of schizophrenia.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Pharmacological Treatment of Cognitive Impairment Associated With Schizophrenia: State of the Art and Future Perspectives.Schizophrenia bulletin open · 2024Article
- Management of cognitive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.The mental health clinician · 2022Article
- Implication of Electrophysiological Biomarkers in Psychosis: Focusing on Diagnosis and Treatment Response.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Review
- Pharmacological interventions for social cognitive impairments in schizophrenia: A protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the Left Superior Temporal Sulcus Improves Social Cognition in Schizophrenia: An Open-Label Study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Neuroenhancement: State of the Art and Future Perspectives.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2021Article
- The effect of NMDA-R antagonist, MK-801, on neuronal mismatch along the rat auditory thalamocortical pathway.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Efficacy of different types of cognitive enhancers for patients with schizophrenia: a meta-analysis.NPJ schizophrenia · 2018Article
- Using EEG-Guided Basket and Umbrella Trials in Psychiatry: A Precision Medicine Approach for Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials of anti-dementia drugs plus antipsychotics for schizophrenia.
methodsPrimary outcomes of efficacy and safety included improving overall symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores) and all-cause discontinuation, respectively. Other outcomes included psychopathology subscales (positive, negative, general, and anxiety/depressive symptoms), cognitive function (attention/vigilance, reasoning/problem solving, social cognition, speed of processing, verbal learning, visual learning, working memory, and cognitive control/executive function), Mini-Mental State Examination scores, treatment discontinuation due to adverse events and inefficacy, and individual adverse events. We evaluated the effect size using a random effects model.
resultsWe identified 37 studies (n=1574): 14 donepezil-based (n=568), 10 galantamine-based (n=371), 4 rivastigmine-based (n=146), and 9 memantine-based (n=489) studies. Pooled anti-dementia drugs plus antipsychotics treatments were superior to placebo plus antipsychotics in improving the overall symptoms (24 studies, 1069 patients: standardized mean difference=-0.34, 95% CI=-0.61 to -0.08, P=.01), negative symptoms (24 studies, 1077 patients: standardized mean difference =-0.62, 95% CI=-0.92 to -0.32, Pcorrected=.00018), and Mini-Mental State Examination scores (7 studies, 225 patients: standardized mean difference=-0.79, 95% CI=-1.23 to -0.34, P=.0006). No significant differences were found between anti-dementia drugs plus antipsychotics and placebo plus antipsychotics regarding other outcomes.
conclusionsAlthough the results suggest that anti-dementia drugs plus antipsychotics treatment improves negative symptoms and Mini-Mental State Examination scores in schizophrenia patients, they possibly were influenced by a small-study effect and some bias. However, it was not superior to placebo plus antipsychotics in improving composite cognitive test score, which more systematically evaluates cognitive impairment than the Mini-Mental State Examination score. Overall, the anti-dementia drugs plus antipsychotics treatment was well tolerated.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.