Improving cognition in schizophrenia: Pharmacological and cognitive remediation approaches

Cognitive impairments in schizophrenia are a major contributor to the inability to function adequately in everyday life that is commonly seen. There has been substantial attention paid to cognitive impairments as determinant of these functional deficits and our understanding of the subtleties of the relationships between cognitive impairments and disability has been refined considerably. Here we discuss the measurement of cognition in schizophrenia, its role as a determinant of disability, and treatment efforts to date. This will include both pharmacological and behavioral interventions and critical components of effective treatments that lead to improvements in everyday outcomes. We also comment in detail on how functioning can and should be measured in the office when patients with schizophrenia receive community treatment. Finally, we evaluate the potential for the development of future treatments.