58, p = 0.57) or in the SZ-CG group (t(13) = 1.62, p = 0.13). Source memory accuracy was not correlated with any reduction in symptom ratings at 16 weeks in the SZ-AT group (r = 0.27, p = 0.30) or in the SZ-CG group (r = 0.31, p = 0.27). In the 13 SZ-AT subjects who returned for reassessment 6 months later (Table 4), there was no overall change in social functioning at a group
level (t(12) = 0.49, p = 0.63) as measured by the Quality of Life Scale (QLS) Social Functioning Subscale (Bilker et al., 2003). However, the level of reality monitoring signal within the a KPT 330 priori spherical mPFC ROI immediately after training was significantly correlated with ratings of social functioning at the 6 month follow-up (Figure 4). Reality monitoring signal within the a priori mPFC ROI at baseline did not correlate with ratings of social functioning at baseline (r = −0.02, p = 0.94). In the 12 SZ-CG subjects who returned for reassessment 6 months later, reality monitoring signal within the a priori mPFC ROI at 16 weeks did not correlate with social functioning at 6 month follow-up (r = 0.04, p = 0.90). Talazoparib cost There was no association between mPFC signal within the a priori ROI after training and mean clinical symptom ratings 6 months later (r = 0.12, p = 0.69). These results suggest that SZ patients who show higher training-induced recruitment of mPFC during reality monitoring also demonstrate better real world social
functioning 6 months later. Schizophrenia patients who received intensive computerized training of component auditory/verbal, visual,
and social cognitive processes, compared to patients who played computer games, showed: (1) a significant improvement in their accuracy performing a complex reality monitoring task that was not part of the training exercises (i.e., generalization of training effects); (2) a significant increase in mPFC activation during performance of this task; (3) a significant association between the level of mPFC activation and task performance (findings that were not present at baseline); and (4) a significant relationship between mPFC activation after training and better social functioning 6 months later. Our findings are consistent with prior work indicating that medial prefrontal dysfunction is associated with poor self-reflection processes, poor social cognition, and poor social Exoribonuclease functional status in schizophrenia (Holt et al., 2011, Lee et al., 2006 and Park et al., 2008), but indicate that—rather than being a static deficit—this neural system impairment is responsive to an intensive cognitive training intervention. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a complex higher-order cognitive process in a serious neuropsychiatric illness—in this case, the ability to distinguish the source of information generated by the “self” from information generated by the “other”—has been the targeted outcome of a neuroscience-informed cognitive training strategy.