Cognitive Remediation for Inpatients With Schizophrenia: Effects of a Brief and Intensive Training.

Computer-assisted cognitive remediation (CACR) is a computer-based rehabilitation treatment aimed at improving cognition and at developing strategies that can be applied to various functional areas. Different protocols are currently used with great variability over the intensity and duration of treatments. In this study, we evaluated the effects of a brief and intensive CACR training (i.e., 15 sessions for 3 weeks) on cognitive domains, as well as the durability of cognitive gains and their generalization to functional areas, 3 months after CACR training. Thirty-eight patients with schizophrenia were recruited and assessed for psychopathology, cognitive performance, and functioning before the rehabilitative intervention. Patients were reassessed for cognition after CACR rehabilitation. Moreover, a subsample of 13 patients was evaluated for cognition and functioning 3 months after CACR completion. Results show significant improvements in multiple cognitive domains after CACR. Furthermore, 3 months after CACR completion, significant improvements were also detected in executive functions and daily functioning. This study suggests that a brief and intense CACR training is effective on cognitive and functional domains and that it could be feasible and affordable for health care services, thus offering patients the best options for fulfilling recovery goals.

Clinical validity of the Italian adaptation of the Uniform Data Set Neuropsychological Test Battery (I-UDSNB) in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND: The identification and staging of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) represent a challenge, especially in the prodromal stage of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), when cognitive changes can be subtle. Worldwide efforts were dedicated to select and harmonize available neuropsychological instruments. In Italy, the Italian Network of Neuroscience and Neuro-Rehabilitation has promoted the adaptation of the Uniform Data Set Neuropsychological Test Battery (I-UDSNB), collecting normative data from 433 healthy controls (HC). Here, we aimed to explore the ability of I-UDSNB to differentiate between a) MCI and HC, b) AD and HC, c) MCI and AD. METHODS: One hundred thirty-seven patients (65 MCI, 72 AD) diagnosed after clinical-neuropsychological assessment, and 137 HC were included. We compared the I-UDSNB scores between a) MCI and HC, b) AD and HC, c) MCI and AD, with t-tests. To identify the test(s) most capable of differentiating between groups, significant scores were entered in binary logistic and in stepwise regressions, and then in Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analyses. RESULTS: Two episodic memory tests (Craft Story and Five Words test) differentiated MCI from HC subjects; Five Words test, Semantic Fluency (vegetables), and TMT-part B differentiated AD from, respectively, HC and MCI. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that the I-UDSNB is a suitable tool for the harmonized and concise assessment of patients with cognitive decline, showing high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of MCI and AD.

Cognitive reserve profiles are associated with outcome in schizophrenia.

Cognitive reserve (CR), the brain's ability to cope with brain pathology to minimize symptoms, could explain the heterogeneity of outcomes in neuropsychiatric disorders, however it is still rarely investigated in schizophrenia. Indeed, this study aims to classify CR in this disorder and evaluate its impact on neurocognitive and socio-cognitive performance and daily functioning. A group of 106 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia was enrolled and assessed in these aereas: neurocognition, Theory of Mind (ToM) and daily functioning. A composite CR score was determined through an integration of the intelligence quotient and education and leisure activities. CR profiles were classified with a two-step cluster analysis and differences among clusters were determined with an analysis of variance (ANOVA). The cluster analysis was identified with three CR profiles characterized, respectively, by high, medium and low CR. ANOVA analysis showed significant differences on neurocognition, ToM and daily functioning between the clusters: people with higher CR reached significantly superior scores. This study suggests that greater general cognitive resources could act as a buffer against the effect of brain pathology, allowing patients to have a better cognitive performance, social outcome and quality of life.

Disentangling Cognitive Heterogeneity in Psychotic Spectrum Disorders.

Neuropsychological impairments represent a central feature of psychosis-spectrum disorders. It is characterized by a great both within- and between-subjects variability (i.e. cognitive heterogeneity), which needs to be better disentangled. The present study aimed to describe the distribution of performance on the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) by using the Equivalent Scores, in order to balance statistical methodological problems. To do so, cognitive performance groups were branded, identifying the main factors contributing to cognitive heterogeneity. A sample of 583 patients with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia or Psychotic Disorder Not Otherwise Specified was enrolled and assessed for neurocognition and intellectual level. K-means cluster analysis was performed based on BACS Equivalent Scores. Differences among clusters were analyzed throughout Analysis of Variance and Discriminant Function Analysis in order to identify the most significant predictors of cluster membership. For each cognitive task, roughly 40% of patients displayed poor performance, while up to 63% displayed a symbol-coding deficit. K-means cluster analysis depicted three profiles characterized by "near-normal" cognition, widespread impairment, and "borderline" profile. Discriminant analysis selected Verbal IQ and diagnosis as predictors of cluster membership. Our findings support the usefulness of Equivalent Scores and cluster analysis to explain cognitive heterogeneity, and tailor better interventions.

The clinico-metabolic correlates of language impairment in corticobasal syndrome and progressive supranuclear palsy.

PURPOSE: To assess the clinical-metabolic correlates of language impairment in a large sample of patients clinically diagnosed as corticobasal syndrome (CBS) and progressive supranuclear palsy syndrome (PSPs). METHODS: We included 70 patients fulfilling current criteria for CBS (n = 33) or PSPs (n = 37). All subjects underwent clinical-neuropsychological and FDG-PET assessments at the time of diagnosis. The whole patient's cohort was grouped into three subgroups according to the language characteristics, i.e., (a) nfv-PPA; (b) subtle language impairments, LANG-; (c) no language deficits, NOL-. FDG-PET data were analysed using an optimized voxel-based SPM method at the single-subject and group levels in order to evaluate specific hypometabolic patterns and regional dysfunctional FDG-PET commonalities in subgroups. RESULTS: 21 patients had a nfvPPA diagnosis (i.e., nfv-PPA/CBS = 12 and nfv-PPA/PSPs = 9), while 20 patients had a subtle language impairment LANG- (i.e., CBS = 12 and PSPs = 8), not fulfilling the criteria for a nfv-PPA diagnosis. The remaining sample (i.e., 9/33 CBS and 20/37 PSPs patients) did not show any language deficit. FDG-PET results in individuals with a nfv-PPA diagnosis were consistent with the typical nfv-PPA pattern of hypometabolism (i.e., left fronto-insular and superior medial frontal cortex involvement), both in CBS and PSPs. The LANG-CBS and LANG-PSPs subjects had different FDG-PET hypometabolic patterns involving, respectively, parietal and frontal regions. As expected, NOL-CBS and NOL-PSPs showed a predominant right hemisphere involvement, with selective functional metabolic signatures typical of the two syndromes. CONCLUSIONS: Language impairments, fulfilling the nfv-PPA criteria, are associated with both CBS and PSPs clinical presentations early in the disease course. Subtle language deficits may be present in an additional proportion of patients not fulfilling the nfv-PPA criteria. The topography of brain hypometabolism is a major dysfunctional signature of language deficits in CBS and PSPs clinical phenotypes.

Schizophrenia, cannabis use and Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT): Modeling the interplay on cognition.

Cognitive impairments are considered core features of schizophrenia and are recognized as the most important predictors of functional outcome and quality of life. A better study of the mechanisms underlying the cognition is of extreme relevance. Literature has shown that several genetic and environmental factors affect cognitive performance. In particular, the interaction between Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) gene and cannabis use has gained increasing attention in the past years. Based on these premises, the present study, aimed to analyze the interplay between cannabis use and COMT polymorphism on cognitive performance in a sample of 135 patients with chronic schizophrenia. Patients were assessed for neurocognitive measures with a broad battery, genotyped for COMT Val158Met polymorphism from peripheral blood sample, and evaluated with a semi-structured interview in order to establish the history of cannabis abuse. Results showed a significant interaction effect between COMT polymorphism and cannabis use on verbal fluency and speed of processing. The analysis revealed significant differences between subjects COMT Val/Val homozygous and Met carriers with history of cannabis use, with a better performance on both tasks among the Met carriers group. These data are in line with literature on healthy subjects that suggests a more detrimental effect of cannabis among subjects with Val/Val genotype. In conclusions, results highlight the need to better disentangle the biological pathways in which cannabis use and COMT are converging, as possible treatment targets, as well as the importance to assess these factors in clinical to optimize individualized interventions.