Treatment of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia

Abstract

Cognitive deficits are a core feature of schizophrenia and are a major contributor to functional disability. These impairments persist even when patients are in remission of psychotic symptoms and have, to date, eluded treatment. While some improvement is noted with existing medications, current trends in this field include studying and searching for adjunctive treatments to truly remediate cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. Psychosocial treatments have demonstrated some success, but the use of existing cognitive enhancers in schizophrenia treatment has provided little cognitive improvement. This paper reviews the current status of cognitive deficit treatment in schizophrenia and offers suggestions for future work.