Computerized Brain Training Can Produce Functional Changes in Schizophrenia

An article posted online on October 31st by Psychiatric News:

Successful training of the brains of people with schizophrenia in discrete attentional tasks is possible and appears to translate into improvements in quality of living, said Sophia Vinogradov, M.D., winner of APA’s Alexander Gralnick Award (pictured with past APA President and current APA American Psychiatric Foundation Treasurer Richard Harding, M.D.) At APA's Institute on Psychiatric Services in San Francisco, Vinogradov described research showing that computerized games aimed at training the brains of patients in very specific tasks can have effects on multiple interactive systems resulting in changes in global functioning. The finding marks a new direction in what has been called “cognitive remediation.” Further coverage of Vinogradov’s remarks will appear in a future issue of Psychiatric News. For further information about cognitive remediation, see "Neurocognitive ‘Training’ May Undo Schizophrenia's Brain Damage" and American Psychiatric Publishing's Essentials of Schizophrenia by Jeffrey Lieberman, M.D.

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Psychosocial Treatments to Promote Functional Recovery in Schizophrenia

The abstract of an article published in the March 2009 edition of Schizophrenia Bulletin:

By Robert S. Kern (1–3), Shirley M. Glynn (2,3), William P. Horan (2,3), and Stephen R. Marder (2,3)

(1) To whom correspondence should be addressed; Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (MIRECC 210 A), Building 210, Room 116, 11301 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90073; tel: 310-478-3711 ext. 49229, fax: 310-268-4056, e-mail:
rkern@ucla.edu.

(2) Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Geffen
School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles, Los
Angeles, CA

(3) Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Los Angeles, CA


A number of psychosocial treatments are available for persons with schizophrenia that include social skills training, cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive remediation, and social cognition training. These treatments are reviewed and discussed in terms of how they address key components of functional recovery such as symptom stability, independent living, work functioning, and social functioning. We also review findings on the interaction between pharmacological and psychosocial treatments and discuss future directions in pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia.

Overall, these treatments provide a range of promising approaches to helping patients achieve better outcomes far beyond symptom stabilization.

Key words: recovery / social skills training / cognitive behavioral therapy / cognitive remediation / social cognition / schizophrenia

To download the entire article, please click here (PDF).

Posting of this abstract is for the purposes of research into schizophrenia and recovery.

Also see:

New Possibilities in Cognition Enhancement for Schizophrenia