认知矫正治疗慢性精神分裂症患者认知功能缺陷的随机对照研究

目的 探讨认知矫正治疗(CRT)和计算机认知矫正治疗(CCRT)对精神分裂症患者认知缺陷的疗效.方法 180例慢性期病情稳定的精神分裂症患者随机分成3组,CCRT组、CRT组和工娱治疗(WAT)组.CCRT组108例,治疗以自主开发的计算机认知矫正治疗系统为工具,每周4次,每次45 min,持续3个月;CRT组36例,以Ann Delahunty和Rodney Morice等制定的神经认知矫正手册(汉化)为治疗工具,在治疗师的指导下进行认知矫正治疗;WAT组36例,接受相同时间的工娱治疗.3组在治疗频度和治疗持续时间上完全一致.治疗前后及治疗结束后第3个月分别进行临床症状和认知功能评定,内容包括阳性和阴性症状量表(PANSS)、精神分裂症认知功能成套测验(MCCB)、威斯康星卡片分类测验(WCST).结果 治疗结束后及随访第3个月时,CCRT组和CRT组在改善WCST完成分类数、连线测验、空间广度方面显著优于WAT组(P均＜0.05);CCRT组在空间广度方面明显优于CRT组(P＜0.05),CRT组在符号编码方面则优于CCRT组(P＜0.05);3组的临床症状在治疗结束及随访阶段无明显变化.结论 CCRT和CRT均能显著改善慢性精神分裂症患者的认知功能,主要表现在记忆、执行功能、精神运动速度方面;CCRT在空间记忆方面较CRT有优势,CRT在精神运动方面较CCRT有优势,CCRT和CRT在执行功能、记忆、精神运动速度等方面的疗效能持续3个月.     

Effects of cognitive remediation on cognitive and social functions in individuals with schizophrenia

ABSTRACT

Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit cognitive impairments, which are related to impairments in social functions. This study investigated the effects of cognitive remediation on cognitive, social, and daily living impairment. Participants were individuals with schizophrenia between 20 and 60 years old (N?=?44). Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: a cognitive remediation intervention group and a non-intervention control group. The control group was provided with conventional drug therapy and either day care or occupational therapy. The intervention group was provided with the “neuropsychological educational approach to cognitive remediation” developed by Medalia and co-workers. We assessed cognitive functions using the brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia (BACS), and evaluated social and daily living functions using the global assessment of functioning (GAF) scale. Significant group by time interaction effects indicated that verbal memory, working memory, attention, and executive function showed significantly greater improvement at post-intervention for the intervention group than the control group. Social and daily living function also improved in the intervention group and improvements were maintained one year after intervention. These preliminary findings indicate that the combination of cognitive remediation and psychiatric rehabilitation is effective for facilitating improvements in cognitive function and social and daily living functions in individuals with schizophrenia.     

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia as primary target of cognitive behavioral therapy: results of the randomized clinical TONES study

Clinical studies on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that include schizophrenia patients primarily on the basis of negative symptoms are uncommon. However, those studies are necessary to assess the efficacy of CBT on negative symptoms. This article first gives an overview of CBT on negative symptoms and discusses the methodological problems of selecting an adequate control group. Furthermore, the article describes a clinical study (the TONES-Study, ISRCTN 25455020), which aims to investigate whether CBT is specifically efficacious for the reduction of negative symptoms. This multicenter randomized clinical trial comparing CBT with cognitive remediation (CR) for control of nonspecific effects is depicted in detail. In our trial, schizophrenia patients (n = 198) participated in manualized individual outpatient treatments. Primary outcome is the negative syndrome assessed with the positive and negative syndrome scale, analyzed with multilevel linear mixed models. Patients in both groups moderately improved regarding the primary endpoint. However, against expectation, there was no difference between the groups after treatment in the intention to treat as well as in the per-protocol analysis. In conclusion, psychotherapeutic intervention may be useful for the reduction of negative symptoms. However, there is no indication for specific effects of CBT compared with CR.     

The impact of cognitive remediation on psychiatric symptoms of schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: The relationship between psychopathology and cognitive functioning in schizophrenia is of interest, both for an understanding of the nature of the disease, and for comprehensive treatment planning. The aim of this study was to investigate how psychiatric symptoms affect, and are affected by, cognitive remediation. METHOD: Fifty-four psychiatric inpatients received either cognitive remediation exercises (remediation group) or no cognitive intervention (control group). The subjects' scores on tests of cognition and on the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) were measured before, after the 10 session treatment, and again 4 weeks post treatment. RESULTS: Only the remediation group showed significant and persistent improvement on all three PANSS Subscales as well as on the Positive Symptoms and Depression Factors. There were no significant between-group differences on any PANSS pre/posttreatment change scores. Baseline measures of psychopathology did not correlate meaningfully with amount of change made on cognitive measures after rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS: A brief 10-session course of cognitive remediation is sufficient to benefit cognition and has some positive effects on psychopathology as measured by the PANSS, but does not add significantly to the effects of standard psychiatric treatment on psychopathology. Furthermore, psychiatric symptom profile is not predictive of the degree to which cognitive symptoms respond to cognitive remediation. The differential impact of cognitive remediation on cognition and psychopathology may imply that psychopathology and cognitive functioning follow fairly independent treatment courses.     

Is it possible to improve social functioning of schizophrenia with cognitive rehabilitation?]

Social dysfunction of schizophrenia is observed in many domains including social skills, ability to conduct tasks, attention/durability, volition/motivation, stability of social life, and insight of dysfunction. These dysfunctions have been found to relate to non-social cognitive functioning to some extent. Social skills may have a strong relationship with social cognition. The intervention technique of cognitive functioning of schizophrenia, known as cognitive rehabilitation or cognitive remediation, has its main target as non-social cognition. Cognitive behavior therapy focuses on the contents of the cognitive process, while cognitive rehabilitation focuses on the cognitive process (information process) or thinking skills. Which cognitive functioning should be targeted was revealed as were theoretical models of cognitive rehabilitation, and various intervention techniques and their usefulness. It has been found that some elements of cognitive functioning, such as executive functioning, could be improved in experimental settings in efficacy studies. However, comprehensive rehabilitation including cognitive rehabilitation should be used in order to relieve social dysfunctioning or psychiatric symptoms. Some experts insisted that an individualized program with several steps, along with cognitive abilities, is required to enhance usefulness and effectiveness. Other experts said more complex cognitive functioning profoundly associated with social life should be targeted, rather than elementary cognitive functioning. The conclusions of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trails were not consistent until now, because inclusion criteria of meta-analysis was different. Finally, it was discussed how the theory and techniques of cognitive rehabilitation should be implemented in traditional rehabilitation.     

A meta-analysis of cognitive remediation in schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effects of cognitive remediation for improving cognitive performance, symptoms, and psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia. METHOD: A meta-analysis was conducted of 26 randomized, controlled trials of cognitive remediation in schizophrenia including 1,151 patients. RESULTS: Cognitive remediation was associated with significant improvements across all three outcomes, with a medium effect size for cognitive performance (0.41), a slightly lower effect size for psychosocial functioning (0.36), and a small effect size for symptoms (0.28). The effects of cognitive remediation on psychosocial functioning were significantly stronger in studies that provided adjunctive psychiatric rehabilitation than in those that provided cognitive remediation alone. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive remediation produces moderate improvements in cognitive performance and, when combined with psychiatric rehabilitation, also improves functional outcomes.     

Predictors of change in life skills in schizophrenia after cognitive remediation

Few studies have investigated predictors of response to cognitive remediation interventions in patients with schizophrenia. Predictor studies to date have selected treatment outcome measures that were either part of the remediation intervention itself or closely linked to the intervention with few studies investigating factors that predict generalization to measures of everyday life-skills as an index of treatment-related improvement. In the current study we investigated the relationship between four measures of neurocognitive function, crystallized verbal ability, auditory sustained attention and working memory, verbal learning and memory, and problem-solving, two measures of symptoms, total positive and negative symptoms, and the process variables of treatment intensity and duration, to change on a performance-based measure of everyday life-skills after a year of computer-assisted cognitive remediation offered as part of intensive outpatient rehabilitation treatment. Thirty-six patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were studied. Results of a linear regression model revealed that auditory attention and working memory predicted a significant amount of the variance in change in performance-based measures of everyday life skills after cognitive remediation, even when variance for all other neurocognitive variables in the model was controlled. Stepwise regression revealed that auditory attention and working memory predicted change in everyday life-skills across the trial even when baseline life-skill scores, symptoms and treatment process variables were controlled. These findings emphasize the importance of sustained auditory attention and working memory for benefiting from extended programs of cognitive remediation.     

A randomized controlled trial of cognitive remediation in schizophrenia

Individuals with schizophrenia have consistently been found to exhibit cognitive deficits, which have been identified as critical mediators of psychosocial functional outcomes. Recent reviews of cognitive remediation (CRT) have concluded that these deficits respond to training. This multi-site community study examined 40 individuals with schizophrenia who underwent cognitive remediation using the Neuropsychological Educational Approach to Remediation(1) (NEAR). Assessments using the same neuropsychological tests and measures of psychosocial outcome were made at four time points: baseline, before start of active intervention, end of active intervention and 4 months after end of active intervention. Dose of antipsychotic medication remained constant throughout the study period. After participating in NEAR, individuals showed significant improvements in verbal and visual memory, sustained attention and executive functioning. This effect persisted 4 months after the treatment ceased. The average effect size was mild to moderate. Social and occupational outcomes also improved from baseline to post-treatment, which persisted 4 months later. Our findings replicate those of previous studies that suggest that NEAR is effective in improving cognition in individuals with schizophrenia in a naturalistic and ecologically valid setting. Further it extends such findings to show a generalisation of effects to social/occupational outcomes and persistence of effects in the short term.     

Computerized cognitive remediation improves verbal learning and processing speed in schizophrenia

Computerized cognitive remediation has resulted in improved executive function in schizophrenia, whereas results with regard to verbal memory were inconsistent. In the present study, 42 inpatients with schizophrenia were randomly assigned to a computerized cognitive remediation group or to a treatment-as-usual (TAU) control group. The remediation group received 15 sessions of computerized cognitive training (Cogpack) over a 3-week period. Neurocognitive functions were assessed at the beginning and end of this period. Compared to the control condition, remediation training resulted in improvements in verbal learning, processing speed and executive function (verbal fluency). The results indicate that cognitive remediation may lead to improvements beyond those of executive function.     

Computer-assisted cognitive remediation for schizophrenia: a randomized single-blind pilot study

Cognitive impairment is a core symptom in schizophrenia that has a significant impact on psychosocial function, but shows a weak response to pharmacological treatment. Consequently, a variety of cognitive remediation strategies have been evaluated to improve cognitive function in schizophrenia. The efficacy of computer-based cognitive remediation as a stand-alone intervention on general measures of neuropsychological function remains unclear. We tested the effectiveness of biweekly training using computerized cognitive remediation programs on neuropsychological and event-related potential outcome measures. Schizophrenia patients were randomly assigned to cognitive remediation training (N=17), active control (TV-watching; N=17), or treatment-as-usual (N=10) groups for ten weeks and run in parallel. Cognitive and ERP measures revealed no differential improvement over time in the cognitive remediation group. Practice effects might explain change over time on several cognitive measures for all groups, consistent with studies indicating task-specific improvement. Computer-assisted cognitive remediation alone may not be sufficient for robust or generalized effects on cognitive and electrophysiological measures in schizophrenia patients.     

Efficacy of cognitive nursing intervention for voice hearing

PROBLEM: Many individuals who hear negative voices are troubled by their voices even when they adhere to prescribed neuroleptic medication regimens. At the same time, recent clinical trials provide evidence that structured, cognitive intervention can reduce distress tied to refractory auditory hallucinations and other psychiatric symptoms. PURPOSE: The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to determine whether usual care (UC), or usual care plus 12, 90-min episodes of cognitive nursing intervention (UC + CNI) led to sustained improvement in the psychiatric symptoms and self-esteem of 65 voice hearers assigned a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS: Analysis of covariance with repeated measures procedures indicate that the 44 participants exposed to UC + CNI, were significantly more likely than the 21 participants exposed to UC only, to sustain significant improvement in psychiatric symptoms and self-esteem 1 year following treatment. IMPLICATIONS: These findings provide encouragement for nurses to further develop and investigate cognitive strategies to treat psychiatric symptoms of voice hearers.     

Predictors of performance improvements within a cognitive remediation program for schizophrenia

Cognitive impairment is regarded a core feature of schizophrenia and is associated with low psychosocial functioning. There is rich evidence that cognitive remediation can improve cognitive functions in patients with schizophrenia. However, little is known about what predicts individual remediation success. Some studies suggest that baseline cognitive impairment might be a limiting factor for training response. Aim of the current study was to further examine the role of cognitive and symptom variables as predictors of remediation success. We studied a total sample of 32 patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder who were engaged in a computer-based cognitive training program (CogPack). A pre-training test battery provided cognitive measures of selective attention, executive functioning, processing speed, verbal memory, and verbal intelligence along with measures for positive and negative symptoms. Training response was defined as improvement on training tasks. Correlation analyses revealed no significant relationship between any of the baseline cognitive or symptom measures and improvement rates. However, better baseline cognition was associated with a higher percentage of tasks with initial ceiling effects. We conclude that not carefully tailoring task difficulty to patients' cognitive abilities constitutes a much more severe threat to cognitive remediation success than cognitive impairment itself.     

Efficacy and tolerability of low-dose donepezil in schizophrenia

There have been many advancements in the pharmacologic treatment of schizophrenia; however, negative symptoms and cognitive impairment remain an intractable part of this illness. Donepezil is an anticholinesterase inhibitor with cognitive enhancing effects approved for the treatment of Alzheimer disease that has shown some benefit in the treatment of schizophrenia. In this study, 15 inpatients at a state hospital with a history of schizophrenia were administered donepezil in a randomized, double-blind, crossover design. Neurocognitive testing and psychiatric ratings were completed at baseline and at regular intervals for 18 weeks. Results indicated that donepezil treatment was associated with modest improvements in psychiatric symptoms and improved verbal learning. These results suggest that donepezil may be helpful as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of psychiatric symptoms and cognitive impairment in a subgroup of schizophrenic patients.     

Negative symptoms and specific cognitive impairments as combined targets for improved functional outcome within cognitive remediation therapy

Negative symptoms and poor cognition are both associated with poor functional outcome in schizophrenia. This poor functional outcome has been attributed to poor cognition rather than any independent contribution from symptoms. Identifying target cognitive processes and mechanisms that predict community function, and possible moderator effects of negative symptoms, will allow the development of cognitive remediation programs that are successful in improving functional outcome. A referred sample of 53 in- and outpatients with schizophrenia with general cognitive impairment (including 28 with severe negative symptoms) and 22 healthy controls, balanced for premorbid IQ, were compared cross sectionally on measures of community shopping skills, executive function, and working memory. Across the groups, there were direct relationships between community functioning and specific executive functions, and there were interactions between group membership and the types of associations found. Working memory was independently associated with accurate community functioning only in people with schizophrenia and negative symptoms. This association was not due to the sole presence of working memory impairment or just to negative symptoms. Poor community function is predicted both by specific cognitive impairments that are prominent in people with negative symptoms and through the moderating effect of negative symptoms on the working memory-community function relationship. This may reflect a synergistic association between symptoms and cognition: negative symptoms arise from cognitive impairment but also impact detrimentally on working memory functioning. Both cognitive processes and negative symptoms should be targeted in cognitive remediation to effect the greatest change in community functions.     

恢复期精神分裂症患者的认知功能障碍

目的：研究恢复期精神分裂症患者认知功能损害特点。方法：对２６例病情已达显著进步以上的精神分裂症患者及２５例健康者评定认知功能障碍的状况。结果：所有实验组患者与对照组相比较,在注意、记忆及信息整合与执行功能方面均有不同程度缺损。结论：认知功能障碍是精神分裂症的核心症状之一,以阳、阴性症状为主的临床诊疗标准存在一定的限制性,应增补认知功能和评定内容。     

慢性精神分裂症综合康复治疗前后认知功能的比较研究

目的 探讨综合康复训练对于慢性精神分裂症患者认知功能的改善情况.方法 64例慢性精神分裂症患者劳动技能训练,生活技能训练、健康教育以及心理治疗等综合康复措施,与治疗前后分别采取简明精神症状量表(BPRS),住院精神病人康复疗效评定量表(IPROS)和威斯康星卡片分类测验(WCST)进行评定.结果 治疗6个月后,64例患者的BPRS、IPROS和WCST较治疗前有显著性改变(P＜0.01).WCST的分类数、正确数明显提高(P＜0.01);总错误数、持续错误数和随机错误数明显降低(P＜0.01).结论 综合康复训练能有效改善慢性精神分裂症患者的精神症状,提高患者的康复疗效,改善患者的认知功能.     

A clinical review of cognitive therapy for schizophrenia

Major advances have been made in the cognitive understanding and treatment of the symptoms of schizophrenia, including delusions, hallucinations, and emotional withdrawal. Experimental studies on the psychologic aspects of schizophrenia demonstrate the importance of information processing biases, such as cognitive biases and distortions, that are functionally related to the maintenance of symptoms. Understanding the aspects of schizophrenia in cognitive terms provides a framework for psychotherapeutic intervention with the adaptation of the cognitive strategies proven effective in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders. The authors of this paper first outline the cognitive conceptualization and strategies employed by cognitive therapists to treat positive and negative symptoms, and conclude with a summary of the empiric status of cognitive therapy for schizophrenia. Cognitive therapy has been shown to be an important adjunct to standard treatments of schizophrenia.     

Treating problem-solving deficits on an acute care psychiatric inpatient unit

Neuropsychological deficits in problem-solving are commonly found in patients with schizophrenia and severe affective disorders. However, in an acute care setting, treatment efforts do not typically target these deficits, even though they can impede recovery. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of short-term problem-solving remediation in acutely ill psychiatric inpatients. Twenty-eight psychiatric inpatients identified as having a verbal problem-solving deficit received 6 h of either verbal problem-solving remediation or placebo instruction. Before and after treatment a nurse rated the patient's psychiatric status and the patient completed verbal and nonverbal problem-solving tests, and a self-report rating of symptoms and ability to cope with symptoms. Both groups of patients improved on the measure of verbal problem solving, but those receiving problem-solving remediation improved significantly more. Both groups made symptomatic improvement, but the patients receiving problem-solving remediation made significantly more improvement on the measure of coping ability and the nurses rated them as more improved, both psychiatrically and with regard to coping skills. Verbal problem-solving deficits are responsive to short-term remediation in an acute care setting, and treatment effects may generalize to improve ability to cope with psychiatric symptoms.     

慢性精神分裂症住院患者辅以认知矫正治疗的随机对照研究(英文)

背景 认知矫正治疗(Cognitive Remediation Therapy,CRT)是一种很有希望的、新的非药物治疗方法,能够减少精神分裂症患者的认知缺损。但未在国内得到充分的验证。目的 探讨认知矫正治疗对慢性精神分裂症患者认知功能、社会功能及自知力的疗效。方法 将126例病情相对稳定的慢性精神分裂症住院患者随机分成干预组和对照组。干预组接受行认知矫正治疗,对照组接受常规的工娱治疗,两组在治疗频度和治疗持续时间一致,均为每周5次,共3个月。于治疗前及治疗末分别采用威斯康星卡片分类测验(Wisconsin Card Sorting Test,WCST)评估认知功能,采用住院慢性精神分裂症患者社会功能评定量表(Scale of Social Skills of chronic schizophrenia Inpatients,SSSI)评估社会功能以及采用自知力与治疗态度问卷(Insight and Treatment Attitude Questionnaire,ITAQ)评估自知力。结果 研究过程中有4例患者脱落,干预组60例、对照组62例最终进入结果分析。治疗3个月后,两组的WCST测评结果均较治疗前显著改善,而干预组的WCST各指标的改善均比对照组明显。两组在3个月治疗后的SSSI总分均显著改善,但改善程度在两组间无显著性差异;两组的ITAQ总分也均有提高,但干预组的改善程度比对照组更明显。结论 在药物治疗的基础上,为期3个月的认知矫正治疗对改善慢性精神分裂症住院患者的认知功能及自知力比常规的工娱治疗更为有效。     

Neural changes following cognitive remediation therapy for schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia experience cognitive impairments that relate to poorer social functioning even after amelioration of positive symptoms. Pharmacological treatment and cognitive remediation are the two important therapeutic approaches for cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) for schizophrenia improves cognitive functioning and induces neuroplasticity, but different approaches and durations of CRT and different neuroimaging devices have led to varying results in meta‐analyses. The objective of this review was to explore the impact of CRT on neurobiology. Several studies have provided evidence of increased activation in the frontal brain regions, such as the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and parietal and occipital regions during working memory or executive function tasks after CRT. Two studies have shown alterations in resting‐state connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and temporal regions. Two studies have reported that CRT induces changes in gray matter volume in the hippocampus. Further, one study observed that patients who had received CRT had elevated fractional anisotropy in the basal ganglia. We conclude that neuroimaging studies assessing CRT in patients with schizophrenia showed functional, structural, and connectivity changes that were positively correlated with cognitive improvements despite heterogeneous CRT approaches. Future studies that combine multiple modalities are required to address the differences, effects of intrinsic motivation, and pharmacological augmentation of CRT. Further understanding of the biological basis might lead to predictions of the CRT response in patients with schizophrenia and contribute to identification of schizophrenia patients for future interventions.