Neuropsychological rehabilitation in the treatment of schizophrenia

The Schizophrenia Rehabilitation Center at the Institute of Living has begun to develop rehabilitation techniques based on a neuropsychological approach to ameliorate the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. A study was designed to test the hypothesis that patients receiving attention skills training would demonstrate improved performance on neuropsychological tests measuring concentration. Five out of the seven subjects significantly improved on more than half of the neuropsychological measures. In the two case studies reviewed, significant increases in test scores were observed more frequently during cognitive rehabilitation then when psychoeducation classes were substituted for the attention skills training. In addition, patients showed improvement on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Quality of Life Scale. The data support the efficacy of attention skills training using a process specific approach. However, it is uncertain if attention skills rehabilitation is a necessary or sufficient factor in producing the therapeutic change.