Linking social motivation, general motivation, and social cognition to interpersonal functioning in schizophrenia: insights from exploratory graph analysis.

Motivation in general, and social motivation in particular are important for interpersonal functioning in individuals with schizophrenia. Still, their roles after accounting for social cognition, are not well understood. The sample consisted of 147 patients with schizophrenia.

The Effects of Remote Cognitive Training Combined With a Mobile App Intervention on Psychosis: Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Impairments in cognition and motivation are core features of psychosis and strong predictors of social and occupational functioning. Accumulating evidence indicates that cognitive deficits in psychosis can be improved by computer-based cognitive training programs; however, barriers include access and adherence to cognitive training exercises. Limited evidence-based methods have been established to enhance motivated behavior.

Abnormal Information Flow in Schizophrenia Is Linked to Psychosis.

Background And Hypothesis: Prior research has shown that patients with schizophrenia (SZ) show disruption in brain network connectivity that is thought to underlie their cognitive and psychotic symptoms. However, most studies examining functional network disruption in schizophrenia have focused on the temporally correlated coupling of the strength of network connections. Here, we move beyond correlative metrics to assay causal computations of connectivity changes in directed neural information flow, assayed from a neural source to a target in SZ.

Changes in emotion processing and social cognition with auditory versus visual neuroscience-informed cognitive training in individuals with schizophrenia.

Background: Neuroscience-informed cognitive training has been used to remediate cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, but their effect on emotion processing and social cognition deficits, which may involve auditory and visual impairments, remain relatively unknown. In this study, we compared the efficacy of auditory versus visual neuroscience-informed cognitive training on emotion processing and social cognition in individuals with schizophrenia.

Methods: In this randomised, double-blind clinical trial, 79 participants with chronic schizophrenia performed 40-hours auditory or visual dynamically equivalent computerised cognitive training.

Durable Cognitive Gains and Symptom Improvement Are Observed in Individuals With Recent-Onset Schizophrenia 6 Months After a Randomized Trial of Auditory Training Completed Remotely.

Objective: Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia predicts functional outcomes and is largely unresponsive to pharmacology or psychotherapy; it is thus a critical unmet treatment need. This article presents the impact of remotely completed, intensive, targeted auditory training (AT) vs control condition computer games (CG) in a double-blind randomized trial in young adults with recent-onset schizophrenia.

Method: Participants (N = 147) were assessed for cognition, symptoms, and functioning at baseline, post-intervention, and at 6-month follow-up.

Multivariate pattern analysis of brain structure predicts functional outcome after auditory-based cognitive training interventions.

Cognitive gains following cognitive training interventions are associated with improved functioning in people with schizophrenia (SCZ). However, considerable inter-individual variability is observed. Here, we evaluate the sensitivity of brain structural features to predict functional response to auditory-based cognitive training (ABCT) at a single-subject level.

Testing a Novel Web-Based Neurocognitive Battery in the General Community: Validation and Usability Study.

Background: In recent years, there has been increased interest in the development of remote psychological assessments. These platforms increase accessibility and allow clinicians to monitor important health metrics, thereby informing patient-centered treatment.

Objective: In this study, we report the properties and usability of a new web-based neurocognitive assessment battery and present a normative data set for future use.

Response to targeted cognitive training may be neuroprotective in patients with early schizophrenia.

Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit widespread cortical thinning associated with illness severity and deficits in cognition. However, intact cortical thickness (CTh) may serve as a protective factor. The current study sought to examine changes in CTh in response to auditory targeted cognitive training (TCT) in individuals with recent onset schizophrenia.

Targeting Cognition and Motivation in Coordinated Specialty Care for Early Psychosis: A Grant Report.

In this grant report, we describe our project to expand measurement-based psychiatric care across 6 early psychosis treatment teams in Minnesota, and to provide a neuroscience-informed cognitive training and motivation enhancement program for individuals with early psychosis. This project is part of the NIMH Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET) initiative which seeks to link data from treatment centers nationally that offer evidence-based specialty care to persons experiencing early psychosis. Systematic analyses of pooled data collected in EPINET will help inform methods for early psychosis care, psychosis risk factors, and pre-emptive interventions.

A Neural Biomarker for Hallucinations: Medial Prefrontal Aberrations in Neural Connectivity Predict Self-Agency Deficits and Hallucination Severity in Schizophrenia.

Prior studies have shown that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) represents one neural substrate that mediates judgments of self-agency (i.e., the awareness that 'I am the originator of my actions').

Specificity and Durability of Changes in Auditory Processing Efficiency After Targeted Cognitive Training in Individuals With Recent-Onset Psychosis.

Background: We previously demonstrated that the high heterogeneity of response to computerized Auditory Training (AT) in psychosis can be ascribed to individual differences in sensory processing efficiency and neural plasticity. In particular, we showed that Auditory Processing Speed (APS) serves as a behavioral measure of target engagement, with faster speed predicting greater transfer effects to untrained cognitive domains. Here, we investigate whether the ability of APS to function as a proxy for target engagement is unique to AT, or if it applies to other training interventions, such as Executive Functioning Training (EFT).

Deficits in Auditory and Visual Sensory Discrimination Reflect a Genetic Liability for Psychosis and Predict Disruptions in Global Cognitive Functioning.

Sensory discrimination thresholds (i.e., the briefest stimulus that can be accurately perceived) can be measured using tablet-based auditory and visual sweep paradigms.

Online Social Cognition Training in Schizophrenia: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Multi-Site Clinical Trial.

Social cognition (SC), the mental operations underlying social functioning, are impaired in schizophrenia. Their direct link to functional outcome and illness status have made them an important therapeutic target. However, no effective treatment for these deficits is currently applied as a standard of care.

The Visual Word Form Area compensates for auditory working memory dysfunction in schizophrenia.

Auditory working memory impairments feature prominently in schizophrenia. However, the existence of altered and perhaps compensatory neural dynamics, sub-serving auditory working memory, remains largely unexplored. We compared the dynamics of induced high gamma power (iHGP) across cortex in humans during speech-sound working memory in individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) and healthy comparison subjects (HC) using magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Auditory versus visual neuroscience-informed cognitive training in schizophrenia: Effects on cognition, symptoms and quality of life.

Background: Cognitive impairments are related to deficits in primary auditory and visual sensory processes in schizophrenia. These impairments can be remediated by neuroscience-informed computerized cognitive trainings that target auditory and visual processes. However, it is not clear which modality results in greater improvements in cognition, symptoms and quality of life.

Cognitive Training for Very High Risk Incarcerated Adolescent Males.

Objective: Persistent violent and antisocial behavior, as manifested in conduct disorder (CD) traits, are associated with a range of cognitive deficits. Individuals with more severe cognitive deficits are more likely to commit violent crimes. Currently, no treatments target improving cognition in high-risk CD youth.

Early- Versus Adult-Onset Schizophrenia as a Predictor of Response to Neuroscience-Informed Cognitive Training.

Background: Developmental stages characterized by greater neural plasticity might be critical periods during which the effects of cognitive training (CT) could theoretically be maximized. However, experiencing a first episode of schizophrenia during childhood or adolescence (ie, early-onset schizophrenia [EOS]) may reduce the brain's ability to benefit from CT. This study examined the effects of EOS versus onset at > 18 years of age (ie, adult-onset schizophrenia [AOS]) as a predictor of response to CT and the relationship between duration of illness and cognitive improvements.

Six month durability of targeted cognitive training supplemented with social cognition exercises in schizophrenia.

Background: Deficits in cognition, social cognition, and motivation are significant predictors of poor functional outcomes in schizophrenia. Evidence of durable benefit following social cognitive training is limited. We previously reported the effects of 70 h of targeted cognitive training supplemented with social cognitive exercises (TCT + SCT) verses targeted cognitive training alone (TCT).

Intervention-specific patterns of cortical function plasticity during auditory encoding in people with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a neurocognitive illness characterized by behavioral and neural impairments in both early auditory processing and higher order verbal working memory. Previously we have shown intervention-specific cognitive performance improvements with computerized, targeted training of auditory processing (AT) when compared to a computer games (CG) control intervention that emphasized visual processing. To investigate spatiotemporal changes in patterns of neural activity specific to the AT intervention, the current study used magnetoencephalography (MEG) imaging to derive induced high gamma band oscillations (HGO) during auditory encoding, before and after 50 h (∼10 weeks) of exposure to either the AT or CG intervention.

Development and testing of a web-based battery to remotely assess cognitive health in individuals with schizophrenia.

Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia is often severe, enduring, and contributes significantly to chronic disability. A standardized platform for identifying cognitive impairments and measuring treatment effects in cognition is a critical aspect of comprehensive evaluation and treatment for individuals with schizophrenia. In this project, we developed and tested a suite of ten web-based, neuroscience-informed cognitive assessments that are designed to enable the interpretation of specific deficits that could signal that an individual is experiencing cognitive difficulties.