Objective: Various cognitive deficits are fundamental symptoms of schizophrenia. The cognitive training program for enhancing cognitive flexibility using a virtual reality technology has been developed to improve cognitive functions in schizophrenia. This study was aimed to investigate the effectiveness of this program.
Methods:Twelve patients with schizophrenia participated in 8 sessions of the cognitive training program in the virtual reality environment. The cognitive flexibility was examined on Wisconsin Card Sorting Test before and after the cognitive training.
Results:Three sub-scales of WCST, such as the number of trials administered, total number correct, non-perseverative errors were decreased after the cognitive training
Conclusion:These findings suggest that cognitive deficits in schizophrenia can be improved by using the cognitive training program in the virtual reality environment. (Schizophrenia Clinics 2004;7:101-106) |