Understanding Attention in Schizophrenia: The Enduring Influence of Barbara Cornblatt

In this review, we highlight Barbara Cornblatt's transformative contributions to the study and understanding of attention in psychosis. We begin by summarizing Cornblatt's work on attention starting in the late 1970s, including her work showing that impaired vigilance is a heritable risk factor and predictor of psychosis, and her key role in the creation of the gold-standard Continuous Performance Test-Identical Pairs. We then summarize major developments in the understanding of attention in psychosis since that time, all of which have been influenced by the work and insights of Cornblatt. Finally, we describe recent research in this area and discuss ways that emerging ideas and methods could transform attention research going forward, building upon Cornblatt's foundational work.