HTTLPR functional polymorphism in schizophrenia: executive functions vs. sustained attention dissociation.

Background: Recently attention has been addressed to the role of 5-HT in cognition and several experimental studies revealed that manipulations of the central 5-HT system can produce quite specific changes in cognitive functioning. These results may suggest new treatment strategies to improve cognition in psychiatric conditions characterized by neuropsychological impairments, such as schizophrenia. It is possible to investigate the involvement of 5-HT in cognition by examining the impact of genetic variation in key regulators of serotoninergic neurotransmission.

Computer-aided neurocognitive remediation as an enhancing strategy for schizophrenia rehabilitation.

Cognitive dysfunction is a chronically disabling feature of schizophrenia, associated with limits in obtaining rehabilitation improvements. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of intensive computer-aided cognitive remediation treatment (CRT) added to a standard rehabilitation treatment (SRT), in enhancing neuropsychological performances and daily functioning in patients with schizophrenia. A 12-week, randomized, controlled, single-blind trial of neurocognitive remediation was carried out on 86 patients with clinically stabilized DSM-IV schizophrenia.

The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. Normative data for the Italian population.

Objective: To provide normative values for the Italian population for the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), a recent brief neuropsychological instrument for the assessment of cognition in patients with schizophrenia.

Participants: Data were collected from 204 healthy adult Italian subjects, stratified by gender, education and age.

Measurements And Results: Tests included in the BACS are the following: list learning, digit sequencing, verbal fluency, token motor task, symbol-coding and Tower of London.

Psychopathological and neuropsychological correlates of source monitoring impairment in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenic patients are known to show a deficit in the source monitoring function, which refers to the set of processes involved in the attribution of an origin to memories and beliefs. A failure in source monitoring was found to be associated with Schneiderian delusions in the recent literature. This study aimed to explore in a sample of schizophrenic patients and controls two aspects of the source monitoring process-recognition and source attribution- and their possible correlation with psychopathology and basic neuropsychological performances.