An ecologically sensitive measure of executive cognition (the Breakfast Task) improves prediction of functional outcome in schizophrenia.

Previous work has found that the Breakfast Task (BT), a computerized, ecologically informed executive ability measure, is sensitive to group differences in aging, acquired brain injury, and Parkinson's disease. We investigated whether this measure improves the prediction of functional status over and above standard measures of general intellectual ability, relationship perception, life skills, and symptom severity in individuals with schizophrenia. Regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the joint and incremental validity of the BT in predicting functional disability scores on the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale (WHODAS 2.

Comparability of the WCST and WCST-64 in the assessment of first-episode psychosis.

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) was designed as a measure of executive functioning and is commonly used in the assessment of psychiatric disorders. The original WCST, consisting of 128 cards, has been criticized as being too lengthy for patients experiencing significant distress. Consequently, a shortened version consisting of a single 64-card deck (WCST-64) was created.

Association between cannabis use and methadone maintenance treatment outcomes: an investigation into sex differences.

Background: Cannabis will soon become legalized in Canada, and it is currently unclear how this will impact public health. Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is the most common pharmacological treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), and despite its documented effectiveness, a large number of patients respond poorly and experience relapse to illicit opioids. Some studies implicate cannabis use as a risk factor for poor MMT response.

Characterizing outcome preferences in patients with psychotic disorders: a discrete choice conjoint experiment.

The majority of individuals with schizophrenia will achieve a remission of psychotic symptoms, but few will meet criteria for recovery. Little is known about what outcomes are important to patients. We carried out a discrete choice experiment to characterize the outcome preferences of patients with psychotic disorders.

Association between cannabis use and treatment outcomes in patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment: a systematic review protocol.

Background: With the non-medical use of prescription opioids increasingly becoming a method of abuse in Canada, the number of patients requiring methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) for opioid use disorder has increased dramatically. The rate of cannabis use in this population is disproportionately high (~50 %). Because its use is generally perceived as harmless, cannabis use is often not monitored during MMT.

Neuropsychological Impact of West Nile Virus Infection: An Extensive Neuropsychiatric Assessment of 49 Cases in Canada.

Background: West Nile virus emerged as an important human pathogen in North America and continues to pose a risk to public health. It can cause a highly variable range of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic to severe illness. Neuroinvasive disease due to West Nile virus can lead to long-term neurological deficits and psychological impairment.

Neurocognitive normality in schizophrenia revisited.

The validity and significance of normal range neurocognition in schizophrenia remain unclear and controversial. We assessed whether normal range patients and controls demonstrate evidence of decline relative to premorbid ability and differ in performance profiles across measures, including those external to the normality criterion. In addition, we compared below normal range healthy control participants with patients at the same ability level.

Community outcome in cognitively normal schizophrenia patients.

Recent reports suggest that cognition is relatively preserved in some schizophrenia patients. However, little is known about the functional advantage these patients may demonstrate. The purpose of this study was to identify cognitively normal patients with a recently developed test battery and to determine the functional benefit of this normality relative to cognitively impaired patients.

Preserved, deteriorated, and premorbidly impaired patterns of intellectual ability in schizophrenia.

Objective: The main purpose of this investigation was to identify patterns of intellectual performance in schizophrenia patients suggesting preserved, deteriorated, and premorbidly impaired ability, and to determine clinical, cognitive, and functional correlates of these patterns.

Method: We assessed 101 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 80 non-psychiatric control participants. The "preserved" performance pattern was defined by average-range estimated premorbid and current IQ with no evidence of decline (premorbid-current IQ difference <10 points).

Stability and change in symptoms, cognition, and community outcome in schizophrenia.

It has been well established that neurocognitive deficits are a core feature in schizophrenia and predict difficulties in functional independence. However, few studies have assessed the longitudinal stability of cognition and key aspects of functional outcome concurrently. Even less attention has been directed at the contingency of cognitive change on real world outcome changes.

WAIS-IV profile of cognition in schizophrenia.

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) has been used extensively to study impairment across a range of cognitive domains in schizophrenia. However, cognitive performance among those with the illness has yet to be examined using the newest edition of this measure. Hence, the current study aims first, to provide WAIS-IV normative data for Canadian individuals with schizophrenia of low average intelligence; second, to examine schizophrenia performance on all WAIS-IV subtest, index and general intelligence scores relative to healthy comparison subjects; and third, to revalidate the pattern of impairment identified in this clinical group using the WAIS-III, where processing speed (PS) was most affected, followed by working memory (WM), perceptual reasoning (PR) and verbal comprehension (VC).

The Canadian Objective Assessment of Life Skills (COALS): a new measure of functional competence in schizophrenia.

This study examined the reliability and validity of a new performance-based measure of functional competence for individuals with serious mental illness, the Canadian Objective Assessment of Life Skills (COALS). The COALS assesses both routinized procedural knowledge routines (PKR) and executive operations (EXO) in order to capture functional outcome variance. The COALS was administered to 101 outpatients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder and 80 non-psychiatric controls.

Exploring logical reasoning abilities in schizophrenia patients.

Objective: To assess deductive reasoning in schizophrenia patients with special reference to whether accuracy varies across type of stimulus problem. Previous research suggests that patients, unlike healthy controls, are insensitive to emotionally provocative (salient) problem content.

Method: A syllogistic reasoning task consisting of five argument types varying in salience, congruence with commonly held beliefs and meaningfulness was administered along with standard intellectual and symptom measures to 25 schizophrenia patients and 26 healthy control participants.

Psychopathology and cognition in divergent functional outcomes in schizophrenia.

Cognitive performance rather than symptoms, especially positive symptoms, is regarded as the primary predictor of functional outcome in schizophrenia. However, contradictory evidence exists and many studies fail to sample from the extremes of outcome measures. This study tested whether the differential importance assigned to symptoms and cognitive impairment is supportable in patients with high and low levels of community independence.

Cognitive performance and functional competence as predictors of community independence in schizophrenia.

Measures of functional competence have been introduced to supplement standard cognitive and neuropsychological evaluations in schizophrenia research and practice. Functional competence comprises skills and abilities that are more relevant to daily life and community adjustment. However, it is unclear whether relevance translates into significantly enhanced prediction of real-world outcomes.

Cognitive, clinical, and functional characteristics of verbally superior schizophrenia patients.

The existence of small numbers of schizophrenia patients with superior ability in specific cognitive domains is implied by meta-analytic evidence as well as by occasional empirical reports. The authors identified 25 patients with superior (i.e.

Are schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder neuropsychologically distinguishable?

This study sought to objectify the distinction between schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder in terms of standard tasks measuring verbal and non-verbal cognitive ability, auditory working memory, verbal declarative memory and visual processing speed. Research participants included 103 outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, 48 with schizoaffective disorder, and 72 non-patients from the community. Schizophrenia patients were impaired on all cognitive measures relative to schizoaffective patients and non-psychiatric participants.

Predictors of medication competence in schizophrenia patients.

Competence in self-administration of a drug regimen is related to both treatment adherence and functional outcome. Previous research with middle-aged and older schizophrenia patients suggests a central role for cognitive performance in predicting this competence. We examined the relative and joint contributions of demographic, clinical and cognitive predictors of medication management ability in an age-representative group of patients.

Stability and validity of memory-based subtypes of schizophrenia.

This study assessed whether verbal memory performance indexed by the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) can organize and reduce the heterogeneity of schizophrenia. The temporal stability, cognitive and clinical validity of: (a) a putatively cortical-subcortical-normative typology derived from dementia patients' scores on the CVLT and (b) a memory performance dichotomy based on a psychometric criterion and 1 CVLT summary score were evaluated. These memory subtypes were examined in 102 schizophrenia patients, 55 of whom were assessed again 3 years later.

The University of California Performance Skills Assessment (UPSA) in schizophrenia.

This study evaluated the University of California Performance-based Skills Assessment (UPSA) in a Canadian outpatient schizophrenia setting. The UPSA was administered to 64 patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder and to 42 nonpsychiatric controls. Patient and control samples did not differ in age, gender composition, first language or country of birth.

Verbal memory errors and symptoms in schizophrenia.

Objective: To extend and test hypotheses linking positive and negative symptoms to selective aspects of verbal memory in schizophrenia.

Background: Verbal memory includes the ability to discriminate and prevent the intrusion of irrelevant information into recall and recognition. This ability has been proposed as a cognitive process that differentially mediates positive and negative symptoms.

Schizophrenia and memory impairment: evidence for a neurocognitive subtype.

Evidence is presented that verbal memory impairment distinguishes a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia who also differ in symptom profile and illness adjustment. On the basis of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), a sample of patients was partitioned into memory-impaired (n=16) and memory-unimpaired groups (n=16). Groups were matched for age, sex, IQ, and anti-psychotic medication.