title: An open clinical trial assessing a novel training program for social cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Social cognition is profoundly impaired in patients with schizophrenia. This study describes 'Mental-State Reasoning Training for Social Cognitive Impairment' (SoCog-MSRT), a 5-week program developed to improve social cognition in patients with schizophrenia. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of implementing SoCog-MSRT in a rehabilitation setting and to evaluate whether our training methods produced improvements. METHOD The feasibility and benefits of SoCog-MSRT were evaluated in an open clinical trial with 14 participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Training comprised 10 twice-weekly sessions, for 5 weeks, with a pre- and post-training assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were significant improvements on: (a) a classic false-belief test of Theory of Mind (ToM); (b) inferring complex mental states from the eyes; and (c) a self-reported measure of social understanding. Some of these improvements were associated with baseline levels of working memory and premorbid Intelligence Quotient (IQ). CONCLUSIONS SoCog-MSRT can improve ToM abilities and social understanding, but individuals with poorer working memory and lower premorbid IQ may be less able to benefit from this type of training.
authors: ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia. pamela.marsh@mq.edu.au
authors: Pamela
authors: P
authors: Marsh
authors: Robyn
authors: R
authors: Langdon
authors: Jonathan
authors: J
authors: McGuire
authors: Anthony
authors: A
authors: Harris
authors: Vince
authors: V
authors: Polito
authors: Max
authors: M
authors: Coltheart
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D056345:Theory of Mind