[MATRICS consensus cognitive battery--standard for the assessment of cognitive functions in clinical trials in...

Cognitive dysfunctions often occur long before the onset of psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia. They include mostly deficits in attention, memory (including working memory) and executive functions. The level of cognitive impairment strongly influences the subjective quality of life and the ability to perform in social and professional roles. Therefore improvement of cognitive functioning is an important challenge in the treatment of schizophrenia. Until recently, the lack of a widely accepted standard for the measurement of cognitive change in schizophrenia has constituted an important obstacle in the development of cognition-enhancing treatments. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) has been created as a standard tool for the assessment of the level of cognitive functioning in schizophrenia patients and its changes in short time intervals. MCCB includes ten cognitive tests which measure seven separable cognitive domains: speed ofprocessing, attention/vigilance, working memory (both verbal and nonverbal), verbal learning, visual learning, reasoning and problem solving, and social cognition in schizophrenia. In validation studies, the MCCB demonstrated excellent reliability, minimal practice effects and significant correlations with measures of functional capacity. In this article we describe the MCCB and present a project aimed to adapt the MCCB to Polish.