Computer-Aided Cognitive Rehabilitation: Possible Application to the Attentional Deficit of Schizophrenia,a Report of Negative Results

The cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia commonly include impairment in attention, which may contribute to difficulties with learning, memory, and executive function. This study evaluated the effectiveness of computer-aided training of attentional skills in schizophrenia. Two groups of schizophrenic subjects (9 men and 1 woman) were matched for age, estimated premorbid IQ, and positive and negative symptom scores. Both groups were assessed using a battery of attentional tests. Subjects then received either six 1-hr. computer-aided cognitive rehabilitation sessions (experimental condition) or six sessions of graphics-based computer games (control condition). Both groups were reassessed with attentional measures. There was significant improvement on only one test, a letter-cancellation task. This improvement was evident in both groups suggesting that this was a practise effect. Apart from the letter-cancellation test, subjects undertaking the computer-aided rehabilitation treatment did not show significant improvement on any attentional tasks.