Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous and often disabling disease that affects 1% of the population. Current psychopharmacological treatment makes it possible to significantly eliminate the presence of positive symptoms (especially delusions and hallucinations) and partially also negative symptoms (social withdrawal or abulia). A group of symptoms that are difficult to influence pharmacologically is cognitive deficit, which significantly limits the quality of life of patients. A significant deficit has been repeatedly documented in the area of declarative memory and working memory. In this study, we use three tasks created in a virtual environment – focused on declarative memory, working memory, and attention – for cognitive rehabilitation in patients suffering from schizophrenia or (schizo)affective disorder. We utilize a within-subject design (comparison of performance of the same person in repeated measurements) to map the effectiveness of these tasks compared to standard cognitive rehabilitation led by an ergotherapist with the use of pen and paper.
This project is being carried out in collaboration with Mgr. Martina Bednářová and MUDr. Alexandra Sedlářová within the psychotherapeutic day care center for psychotic patients in the Karviná Mental Health Center (Czech republic), where over 30 patients – suffering from schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or depression – have already participated in the program.
The project was launched with the financial support of the "PharmaBrain" grant No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_025/0007444 within the framework of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
