Cognitive assessment in the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia Program: harmonization priorities and strategies in a diverse international sample
- PMID: 40128256
- PMCID: PMC11933323
- DOI: 10.1038/s41537-025-00578-1
Cognitive assessment in the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia Program: harmonization priorities and strategies in a diverse international sample
Abstract
Cognitive impairment occurs at higher rates in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis relative to healthy peers, and it contributes unique variance to multivariate prediction models of transition to psychosis. Such impairment is considered a core biomarker of schizophrenia. Thus, cognition is a key domain measured in the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® program for Schizophrenia (AMP SCZ initiative). The aim of this paper is to describe the rationale, processes, considerations, and final harmonization of the cognitive battery used in AMP SCZ across the two data collection networks. This battery comprises tests of general intellect and specific cognitive domains. We estimate premorbid intelligence at baseline and measure current intelligence at baseline and 2 years. Eight tests from the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery (PennCNB), which measure verbal learning and memory, sensorimotor ability, attention, emotion recognition, working memory, processing speed, verbal memory, visual memory, and motor speed are administered repeatedly at baseline, and four follow-up timepoints over 2 years.
© 2025. The Author(s).
Conflict of interest statement
Competing interests: The authors declare the following competing interests: K.A. is on the Australian Cognitive Impairment Associated with Schizophrenia Advisory Board for Boehringer Ingelheim and receives honorary funds; D.D. has received honorary funds for one educational seminar for CSL Sequiris; A.A. is a cofounder, serves as a member of the Board of Directors, as a scientific adviser, and holds equity in Manifest Technologies, Inc.; and is a coinventor on the following patent: Anticevic A, Murray JD, Ji JL: Systems and Methods for NeuroBehavioral Relationships in Dimensional Geometric Embedding, PCT International Application No. PCT/US2119/022110, filed Mar 13, 2019; E.C. has received speaker fees at non-promotional educational events; P.F.P. has received research funds or personal fees from Lundbeck, Angelini, Menarini, Sunovion, Boehringer Ingelheim, Proxymm Science, Otsuka, outside the current study; J.K. has received speaking or consulting fees from Janssen, Boehringer Ingelheim, ROVI and Lundbeck; C.D.C. has received grant support from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and honoraria or travel support from Angelini, Janssen, and Viatris; R.U. has received speaker fees at non promotional educational event: Otsuka: Consultancy for Viatris and Springer HealtCCare. Honorary General Secretary British Association for Psychopharmacology (unpaid); JMK is a consultant to or receives honoraria and/or travel support and/or speakers bureau: Alkermes, Allergan, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Cerevel, Dainippon Sumitomo, H. Lundbeck, HealthRhythms, HLS Therapeutics, Indivior, Intracellular Therapies, Janssen Pharmaceutical, Johnson & Johnson, Karuna Therapeutics/Bristol Meyer-Squibb, LB Pharmaceuticals, Mapi, Maplight, Merck, Minerva, Neurocrine, Newron, Novartis, NW PharmaTech, Otsuka, Roche, Saladax, Sunovion, Teva. Advisory Boards: Alkermes, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Cerevel, Click Therapeutics, Karuna/BMS, Lundbeck, Merck, Newron, Novartis, Otsuka, Sumitomo, Teva, Terran Grant Support: Lundbeck, Janssen, Otsuka, Sunovion Shareholder: Cerevel (public/stock), HealthRhythms (private/stock options), Karuna/BMS (public), LB Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (private/stock options), North Shore Therapeutics (private/stock), Vanguard Research Group (private/40% owner) Receives Royalties: Up to Date; RSK provides consulting to Alkermes, Boehringer-Ingelheim; S.W.W. has received speaking fees from the American Psychiatric Association and from Medscape Features. He has been granted US patent no. 8492418 B2 for a method of treating prodromal schizophrenia with glycine agonists. He owns stock in NW PharmaTech; C.A. has been a consultant to or has received honoraria or grants from Acadia, Angelini, Biogen, Boehringer, Gedeon Richter, Janssen Cilag, Lundbeck, Medscape, Menarini, Minerva, Otsuka, Pfizer, Roche, Sage, Servier, Shire, Schering Plough, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Sunovion and Takeda; G.D.H. has been a consultant for Bristol Myers Squibb; P.J.M. has been a consultant for Otsuka and TEVA; and Z.T. has been a consult for Manifest Technologies. All other authors report no competing interests. C.M.C. is an Associate Editor of Schizophrenia.
Figures


References
-
- Bonivento, C. et al. Neurocognitive skills and vulnerability for psychosis in depression and across the psychotic spectrum: findings from the PRONIA Consortium. Br. J. Psychiatry223, 485–492 (2023). - PubMed
-
- Nuechterlein, K. H. et al. The MATRICS consensus cognitive battery, part 1: test selection, reliability, and validity. Am. J. Psychiatry165, 203–213 (2008). - PubMed
Grants and funding
- U24 MH124629/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States
- 220664/A/20/Z/Wellcome Trust (Wellcome)
- U24MH124629/U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- U01MH124631/U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- 220664/Z/20/Z/Wellcome Trust (Wellcome)