Tardive Akathisia and Cognitive Deficits

Gualtieri (1993) observed that the anxiety and emotional tension suffered by tardive akathisia patients are primary emotional and cognitive components of the disease. After reviewing the functional neuroanatomy, Gualtieri concluded, 

One is entitled to surmise, therefore, that affective instability and intellectual impairment may be the consequence of neuropathology at the level of the basal ganglia TDAK [tardive akathisia] is one manifes- 

In other words, the existence of the syndrome of tardive akathisia demonstrates that the neuroleptics can produce irreversible damage to the mental life of the individual. 

---