Therapy of social-cognitive impairments - training of affect recognition as functional specific approach

Objective: Impairments in social cognition have increasingly attracted interest in schizophrenia research during the last years. A basic component of social cognition is affect recognition. Impairments in affect recognition are well known in schizophrenia, are trait characteristics an e to ploy a crucial role in patients' poor social functioning. Since these impairments are mostly unaffected by traditional treatment, the present study shall contribute to the open question of alternative treatment options. Material and methods: A newly developed,Training of Affect Recognition" (TAR) was evaluated in two consecutive studies with regard to performance in facial affect recognition using prepost-control group designs. In both studies TAR was compared with a "Cognitive Remediation Training" (CRT) aiming at improvement of basic neurocognitive functioning, in order to control for non-specific effects of implicit cognitive training. Results: In both studies application of the TAR led to improved facial affect recognition whereas the CRT led to improved basic cognition, constituting a double dissociation of treatment effects. Preliminary results of the replication study hint to sustainability of TAR effects for at least one month after end of training. Moreover, the TAR also seems to improve prosodic affect recognition and theory of mind functioning, but not yet regarding social competence within a role play test. Conclusions: Impairments in facial affect recognition in schizophrenia are treatable in principle, provided that functional specific training strategies like the TAR are used. Clinical relevance: The development, evaluation and implementation of neurocognitive training seem to be promising and such treatments could soon become an important completion of treatment in schizophrenia.