Computerized cognitive remediation training for schizophrenia: an open label, multi-site, multinational methodology...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Cognitive impairment is a core symptom of schizophrenia, significantly impacting daily functioning.
• Previous single-site studies suggested the Brain Fitness Program (BFP) could ameliorate cognitive deficits.
• Replication in diverse settings is crucial to validate potential non-pharmacological treatments for schizophrenia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of the Brain Fitness Program (BFP) in improving cognitive performance and functional capacity in stable adult patients with schizophrenia.
• To assess the feasibility of implementing BFP training in a multi-site, multinational clinical trial setting.

Main Methods:

• An open-label, multi-site, multinational clinical trial involving 55 stable adult patients with schizophrenia.
• Participants completed at least 32 BFP training sessions over 8-10 weeks.
• Cognitive performance and functional capacity were assessed using the CogState® schizophrenia battery, UCSD Performance based Skills Assessment (UPSA-2), and Cognitive Assessment Interview (CAI).

Main Results:

• BFP training demonstrated a large, significant effect on the auditory processing speed training task.
• This improvement did not generalize to enhanced performance on independent CogState® assessments.
• No significant improvements were observed in functional capacity measures (UPSA-2, CAI).

Conclusions:

• The study confirmed the feasibility of conducting multi-site trials with the Brain Fitness Program (BFP) in schizophrenia patients.
• Despite significant effects on a specific training task, BFP did not yield generalized cognitive or functional improvements in this population.
• The findings suggest that BFP may not be an effective non-pharmacological intervention for broad cognitive amelioration in schizophrenia.