Project Summary

Dawn I. Velligan, Ph.D. (Independent Investigator 2002) of University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, will attempt to determine if people with schizophrenia who utilize a new treatment called cognitive remediation can learn better social skills training than those who don't participate in cognitive remediation.   Social skills training can help people with schizophrenia learn better way to communicate with others, but it is often hard for people with schizophrenia to learn the material presented in these social skills training groups.  Cognitive remediation uses computer games to teach important skills such as paying attention, organizing information and remembering.  Dr. Velligan's study will investigate the effects of cognitive remediation by comparing people with schizophrenia who participate in a cognitive remediation group and then social skills training with those who participate in a keyboarding skills group and then social skills training.  At the end of the study, she will compare how much the subject learned in social skills training.  She hypothesizes that those who attend cognitive remediation will learn more in social skills training than subjects who do not.  Improving the attention, memory and organizational skills of people with schizophrenia may lead to the development of other skills which may improve quality of life.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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