Ineffectiveness of vasopressin in the treatment of memory impairment in chronic schizophrenia.

A vasopressin derivative or placebo was administered to 21 chronic schizophrenia patients for 3 weeks in a randomized crossover double-blind design. The patients were divided into those above and below the median on baseline memory measured by the Wechsler memory scale. Vasopressin treatment did not improve memory either in those patients with below median baseline memory or in the group as a whole.