Do atypical antipsychotics improve cognition?

One of the major symptoms of schizophrenia is cognitive deficits. Despite this, these impairments still lack an effective treatment. It was hoped that atypical antipsychotics would treat these symptoms better than their first generation counterparts, but unfortunately the likes of quetiapine and clozapine did not do so. Asenapine and lurasidone, two newer atypicals, have shown promise, as have agents that interact with the glutamate system. Another approach has been to add agents such as modafinil. More research is needed to consolidate the findings of these studies.