[Pathophysiologic and morphologic changes in the central nervous system following long-term haloperidol...

Experiments on animals demonstrated that a 3,6 and 9 month long administration of haloperidol evokes in the somatosensor zone of the cortex and subcortical nodes of rats some morphofunctional changes of the cytoplasma, nucleus, nucleoli, neurons and glial cells which are interpreted as functional-adaptive, dystrophical and compensatory. A use of haloperidol in increasing dosages (from 1 mg/kg up to 12 mg/kg) leads to an appearance of extrapyramidal disorders, a damage of the nervous system and changed forms of compensation. The most expressed changes were found in the nucleus caudatum. A long-term use of haloperidol did not exert any significant influence on the cortical function of the formation of conditioned reflexes, but there was a retardation in the fixation of new conditioned reflexes after 6 months of drug administration.