Current findings from our laboratory We have been investigating the efficacy of a set of neuroscience-based

cognitive training exercises designed with the considerations described above (software developed by Posit Science, Inc). Subjects were randomly assigned to either 50 hours (1 hour per day, 5 days per week) of a computer games control condition, or to 50 hours of computerized training that places implicit, Rapamycin cell line increasing demands on auditory perception and accurate aural speech reception. Frequency discrimination and phoneme recognition exercises targeted aspects of early auditory processing deficits of schizophrenia, which have been shown to affect higher-order cognitions such as verbal Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical memory, reading ability, and social-emotional recognition.34-37 This psychophysical training was embedded within increasingly complex auditory and verbal working memory/verbal learning exercises that progress from simple frequency discrimination to phoneme Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical identification and then recall of verbal instructions and narrative

details. Cognitive improvement after 50 hours of training Compared Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical with age- and education-matched subjects in the computer games control condition, we found that subjects who underwent targeted cognitive training showed significant increases in Working Memory, Verbal Learning and Memory, and Global Cognition (Figure 1, Table I). 38 These data suggest that an intensive dose of computerized cognitive training focused

on auditory and verbal processing results in improved verbal learning and memory in adults with schizophrenia. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Figure 1. Change in cognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia after 50 hours of computerized auditory training or 50 hours of computer games.38 Table I Scores on cognitive domains before and after intervention for patients with schizophrenia who received computerized auditory training and patients who played computer games.38 a Repeated-measures ANOVA for condition-by-time interaction Duration of cognitive improvement 6 months after training Cognitive Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical training subjects showed significantly greater improvement in verbal learning and memory Thiamine-diphosphate kinase measures from baseline to a 6-month follow-up assessment, indicating the durability of the cognitive training effects beyond the immediate post-training period.39 Furthermore, improved cognition was significantly associated with improvements in quality of life at 6 months. Neurobiologic findings associated with cognitive training Serum anticholinergic activity (SAA), reflecting medication-induced anticholinergic burden, showed a significant negative correlation with cognitive improvement after training. Consistent with basic science research, this suggests that the anticholinergic burden reduces the efficacy of cognitive training in driving cognitive improvement.