No short-term changes of cognitive performance and mood after single doses of two different lithium retard preparations.

This double-blind crossover study investigated the effects of single doses of lithium carbonate (36.6 mval), lithium-sulfate (36 mval), and placebo within the first six hours after administration. The subjects were nine healthy volunteers. The target variables were physical complaints, mood, memory, visuomotor speed, and time estimation. Subjects showed no significant impairment of performance in the cognitive tests and no subjective changes of well-being under lithium. Therefore, it seems that lithium-induced alterations of memory and mood reported in the literature develop very slowly and do not appear after a single dose.