Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cognitive Remediation Services for People with Schizophrenia: Considerations for Health Service Practitioners

  • Feature
  • Published:
Journal of Health Service Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cognitive deficits are a prominent feature of many psychiatric disorders and are predictors of decreased functioning, quality of life, and treatment response. Cognitive remediation focuses on improving cognitive skills through repeated practice and strategy learning. In people with schizophrenia, cognitive remediation is associated with improvements in cognition and psychosocial functions. This article provides an overview of cognitive remediation and some considerations for developing a cognitive remediation service in a treatment setting.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahmed, A. O., Hunter, K. M., van Houten, E. G., Monroe, J. M., & Bhat, I. A. (2014). Cognition and Other Targets for the Treatment of Aggression in People with Schizophrenia. Annals of Psychiatry and Mental Health, 2(1), 100–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, A. O., Mantini, A. M., Fridberg, D. J., & Buckley, P. F. (2015). Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurocognitive deficits in people with schizophrenia: a meta-analysis. Psychiatry Research, 226(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2014.12.069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowie, C. R., McGurk, S. R., Mausbach, B., Patterson, T. L., & Harvey, P. D. (2012). Combined cognitive remediation and functional skills training for schizophrenia: effects on cognition, functional competence, and real-world behavior. American Journal of Psychiatry, 169(7), 710–718. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.11091337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, M., Mellon, S. H., Wolkowitz, O., & Vinogradov, S. (2016). Neuroscience-informed Auditory Training in Schizophrenia: A Final Report of the Effects on Cognition and Serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. Schizophrenia Research. Cognition, 3, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scog.2015.10.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, M. F., & Harvey, P. D. (2014). Cognition in schizophrenia: Past, present, and future. Schizophrenia Research. Cognition, 1(1), e1–e9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scog.2014.02.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, M. F., & Leitman, D. I. (2008). Social Cognition in Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 34(4), 670–672. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbn045

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, M. F., Nuechterlein, K. H., Gold, J. M., Barch, D. M., Cohen, J., Essock, S.,... Marder, S. R. (2004). Approaching a consensus cognitive battery for clinical trials in schizophrenia: the NIMH-MATRICS conference to select cognitive domains and test criteria. Biological Psychiatry, 56(5), 301–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.06.023

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horton, H. K., & Silverstein, S. M. (2008). Social cognition as a mediator of cognition and outcome among deaf and hearing people with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 105(1–3), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2008.07.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jabben, N., Arts, B., van Os, J., & Krabbendam, L. (2010). Neurocognitive functioning as intermediary phenotype and predictor of psychosocial functioning across the psychosis continuum: studies in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 71(6), 764–774. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.08m04837yel

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keefe, R. S. E., Harvey, P. D., Goldberg, T. E., Gold, J. M., Walker, T. M., Kennel, C., & Hawkins, K. (2008). Norms and standardization of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). Schizophrenia Research, 102(1–3), 108–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2008.03.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kern, R. S., Nuechterlein, K. H., Green, M. F., Baade, L. E., Fenton, W. S., Gold, J. M.,... Marder, S. R. (2008). The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, Part 2: Co-Norming and Standardization. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(2), 214–220. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2007.07010043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kern, R.S., Gold, J.M., Dickinson, D., Green, M.F., Nuechterlein, K.H., Baade, L.E.,... Marder SR. (2011). The MCCB impairment profile for schizophrenia outpatients: results from the MATRICS psychometric and standardization study. Schizophrenia Research, 126, 124–131. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2010.11.008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keshavan, M. S., Vinogradov, S., Rumsey, J., Sherrill, J., & Wagner, A. (2014). Cognitive training in mental disorders: update and future directions. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(5), 510–522. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.13081075

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kremen, W.S., Seidman, L.J., Faraone, S.V., Toomey, R., & Tsuang, M.T. (2000). The paradox of normal neuropsychological function in schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109(4), 743–752.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kolb, B. & Teskey, G.C. (2012). Age, experience, injury, and the changing brain. Developmental Psychobiology, 54(3), 311–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurtz, M. M., & Richardson, C. L. (2011). Social Cognitive Training for Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Controlled Research. Schizophrenia Bulletin, sbr036. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbr036

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindenmayer, J.P., Fregenti, S., Kang, G., Ozog, V., Ljuri, I., Khan, A., Goldring, A., & McGurk, S.R. (2017). The relationship of cognitive improvement after cognitive remediation with social functioning in patients with schizophrenia and severe cognitive deficits. Schizophrenia Research, 185, 154–160.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mancuso, F., Horan, W. P., Kern, R. S., & Green, M. F. (2011). Social cognition in psychosis: multidimensional structure, clinical correlates, and relationship with functional outcome. Schizophrenia Research, 125(2–3), 143–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2010.11.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medalia, A. & Bowie, C.R. (2016). Cognitive Remediation to Improve Functional Outcomes. Oxford University Press: New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Medalia, A., & Choi, J. (2009). Cognitive remediation in schizophrenia. Neuropsychology Review, 19(3), 353–364. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-009-9097-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medalia, A., Revheim, N., & Casey, M. (2001). The remediation of problem-solving skills in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 27(2), 259–267.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Medalia, A., Revheim, N., & Herlands, T. (2009). Cognitive Remediation for Psychological Disorders: Therapist Guide. Oxford University Press: New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Medalia, A., & Richardson, R. (2005). What predicts a good response to cognitive remediation interventions? Schizophrenia Bulletin, 31(4), 942–953. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbi045

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medalia, A., Saperstein, A. M., Hansen, M. C., & Lee, S. (2016). Personalised treatment for cognitive dysfunction in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 1–12. doi:10.1080/09602011.2016.1189341

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramsay, I. S., & MacDonald, A. W. (2015). Brain correlates of cognitive remediation in schizophrenia: activation likelihood analysis shows preliminary evidence of neural target engagement. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 41(6), 1276–1284. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbv025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sablier, J., Stip, E., & Franck, N. (2009). [Cognitive remediation and cognitive assistive technologies in schizophrenia]. L’Encephale, 35(2), 160–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.encep.2008.02.010

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, G. P., & Gold, J.M. (2012). A new perspective on aanhedonia in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 169(4), 364–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, G. P., Whearty, K. M., Frost, K. H., & Carpenter, W. T. (2016). An affective neuroscience model of impaired approach motivation in schizophrenia. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 63, 159–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trivedi, J. K. (2006). Cognitive deficits in psychiatric disorders: Current status. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 48(4), 10–20. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.31613

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • van Passel, B., Danner, U., Dingemans, A., van Furth, E., Sternheim, L., van Elburg, A.,... Cath, D. (2016). Cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) as a treatment enhancer of eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry, 16(1), 393. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-1109-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Velligan, D. I., Kern, R. S., & Gold, J. M. (2006). Cognitive rehabilitation for schizophrenia and the putative role of motivation and expectancies. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 32(3), 474–485. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbj071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vinogradov, S., Fisher, M., & de Villers-Sidani, E. (2012). Cognitive training for impaired neural systems in neuropsychiatric illness. Neuropsychopharmacology, 37(1), 43–76. doi:10.1038/npp.2011.251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vinogradov, S., Fisher, M., Warm, H., Holland, C., Kirshner, M. A., & Pollock, B. G. (2009). The cognitive cost of anticholinergic burden: decreased response to cognitive training in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166(9), 1055–1062. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.09010017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wykes, T., Huddy, V., Cellard, C., McGurk, S. R., & Czobor, P. (2011). A meta-analysis of cognitive remediation for schizophrenia: methodology and effect sizes. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168(5), 472–485. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10060855

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhuo, C., Zhu, J., Wang, C., Qu, H., Ma, X., Tian, H.,... Qin, W. (2017). Brain structural and functional dissociated patterns in schizophrenia. BMC Psychiatry, 17(1), 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1194–5

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA

    Anthony O. Ahmed (Assistant Professor)

  2. Clinical Psychology, Long Island University Brooklyn, USA

    Marie C. Hansen fourthyear PhD candidate, Recovery Coach

  3. Columbia University’s Lieber Recovery Clinic, USA

    Marie C. Hansen fourthyear PhD candidate, Recovery Coach

  4. Psychopharmacology Research Program at Manhattan Psychiatric Center, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, USA

    Jean-Pierre Lindenmayer (Director, Clinical Director of the Manhattan Psychiatric Center, and Clinical Professor)

  5. Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, USA

    Jean-Pierre Lindenmayer (Director, Clinical Director of the Manhattan Psychiatric Center, and Clinical Professor)

Authors
  1. Anthony O. Ahmed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marie C. Hansen fourthyear PhD candidate, Recovery Coach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jean-Pierre Lindenmayer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

He completed his doctoral training in clinical psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi, a psychology internship at the VA Maryland Health Care System/University of Maryland Baltimore. Dr. Ahmed completed a Psychotic Disorders Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta University. Dr. Ahmed serves as attending psychologist for the Psychotic Disorders Division at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital. He conducts clinical and translational research in people with schizophrenia.

She received her Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2014. Her research interests include cognitive remediation, peer support, and integrative therapies for distressing psychosis.

Dr. Lindenmayer’s interest in research has included the development of new pharmacological and neurocognitive treatments for schizophrenia patients.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ahmed, A.O., Hansen, M.C. & Lindenmayer, JP. Cognitive Remediation Services for People with Schizophrenia: Considerations for Health Service Practitioners. J Health Serv Psychol 44, 80–89 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544667

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544667

Search

Navigation