---
title: "Psych News Alert: Sodium Benzoate May Improve Symptoms, Cognition in Schizophrenia, Study Suggests"
description: Sodium benzoate—commonly used as a food preservative—appears to improve symptoms and cognition in schizophrenia when used as an adjunct to a...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_98088356-Jun-24-2025-10-27-01-0223-PM.jpg
---

 10/4/13 12:00 AM

# Sodium Benzoate May Improve Symptoms, Cognition in Schizophrenia, Study Suggests

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Sodium benzoate—commonly used as a food preservative—appears to improve symptoms and cognition in schizophrenia when used as an adjunct to antipsychotic medication therapy, according to an online [report](http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1746121) in *JAMA Psychiatry* by American and Taiwanese researchers. They conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 52 patients with chronic schizophrenia who had been stabilized with antipsychotic medications for three months or longer. Patients were given either six weeks of add-on treatment of 1 g/d of sodium benzoate or placebo.

Adding benzoate produced a 21% improvement in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores, as well as improvement in neurocognition, including information-processing speed and visual learning, compared with subjects receiving placebo. Benzoate was well tolerated without significant adverse effects.

Benzoate blocks the metabolism of d-amino acids, which in turn enhances the function of the NMDA receptor in the brain; NMDA is believed to be vital to cognition, a crucial symptom domain of schizophrenia. “The preliminary results show promise for d-amino acid oxidase inhibition as a novel approach for new drug development for schizophrenia,” the authors said.

For more information on research into cognition in schizophrenia, see ["Neuropsychological Decline in Schizophrenia From the Premorbid to the Postonset Period"](http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=1738030) in *AJP in Advance*.

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[schizophrenia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/schizophrenia), [cognition](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/cognition), [adjunctive therapy](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/adjunctive-therapy), [Sodium benzoate](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/sodium-benzoate)

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