Cognitive burden of anticholinergic medications in psychotic disorders

We identified an adverse effect threshold of anticholinergic burden on cognition in clinically stable participants with schizophrenia. This relationship was not identified in affective psychoses. Examination of other medications, doses, and clinical measures did not account for these findings. Patients with schizophrenia may have increased cognitive susceptibility to anticholinergic medications and the aggregate effects of one's medication regimen may be important to consider in clinical practice.