Non-pharmacological interventions in early schizophrenia: focus on cognitive remediation

Objectives There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that barriers to functional recovery are associated with a host of neurocognitive impairments in both the early and later course of schizophrenia. Given the significant influence of cognitive functions on daily functioning, several cognitive training approaches have been developed to improve cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Increasing amounts of data suggest that cognitive remediation leads to improvements not only in cognition, but also in functional outcomes of schizophrenia. Some researchers speculate that deficits in cognition are more amenable to remediation during earlier phases of the illness, rather than when chronicity has developed. Despite the widely cited benefits of cognitive remediation in long-term course patients, fewer studies have examined the extent to which cognitive remediation has practical implications in the early stages of schizophrenia. The aim of this paper is to review the available literature on cognitive remediation in the prodromal phase and the early course of schizophrenia.