The Polish Academic Version of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB): Evaluation of Psychometric Properties.

Work and social functioning in schizophrenia are strongly influenced by cognitive impairment so improving cognition is a priority in the treatment of schizophrenia. Until recently the lack of a widely accepted index of cognitive change for use in schizophrenia was a major obstacle to the development of cognition enhancing treatments. The MATRICS (measurement and treatment research to improve cognition in schizophrenia) consensus cognitive battery (MCCB) was developed as a standard cognitive battery for use in clinical trials of cognition enhancing treatments for schizophrenia and has attracted worldwide interest. To analyze the reliability and validity of a translated and adapted Polish approved academic version of the MCCB. Sixty one patients were assessed at baseline and again after 30 days. The study protocol approximated the MATRICS psychometric and standardization study; the 10 tests that comprise the MCCB were administered to participants. Functioning and psychopathological symptoms were also assessed. Patients and test administrators also assessed the tolerability and practicality of all the cognitive tests. All tests in the battery were found to have high test-retest reliability. All the tests were rated as tolerable and practical by patients and administrators. However practice effects were generally higher in the Polish version of the MCCB than in the original version. Our analysis corroborates previous evidence that the MCCB represents a good tool for assessing cognitive deficits in research studies of schizophrenia also in non-English speaking countries.

Electroencephalographic theta activity and cognition in schizophrenia: preliminary results.

OBJECTIVES: MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) is a contemporary standard for assessment of cognitive functions in schizophrenia. The aim of the study was to examine the association between electroencephalographic spectral power and a wide range of cognitive functions measured with MCCB. METHODS: Thirty-nine patients with schizophrenia (27 male, mean age 28.2 ± 5.2 years) underwent EEG recordings and were assessed with MCCB. The EEG recordings were visually inspected and manually cleaned from artifacts and subjected to spectral analysis with EEGlab. Absolute and relative power as percentage of total spectral power were computed for frequency ranges from 0.5 to 30 Hz. To compare spectral power in patients with various cognitive functioning, patients from best and worst MCCB quartiles were selected. RESULTS: Superior cognitive performance was associated with less power of theta waves. Six MCCB cognitive tests showed significant correlations with absolute theta power and three tests with relative theta power. The correlation coefficients between MCCB composite score and theta power were rp = -0.45 for absolute and rp = -0.36 for relative values. Increased theta power was linked especially to memory deficits. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest that electroencephalographic resting state theta power is an indicator of cognitive deficit in patients with schizophrenia.

Age or age at onset? Which of them really matters for neuro and social cognition in schizophrenia?

In schizophrenia patients, both an older age and earlier age at onset of the disease are related to worse cognitive functioning. As patients with later schizophrenia onset are also older, analysing the two effects separately can be misleading, as they can either be spurious or cancel one another out. The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the effects of age and onset-age on cognition in schizophrenia patients. Individuals with schizophrenia (N=151), aged 18-59 years, were examined with a MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) to get a full picture of their cognitive performance. Results showed age and age at onset indeed interrelated. Regression analyses revealed later onset of schizophrenia related to better social cognition. Patients׳ older age was related to a slower performance in symbol coding task, less effective executive functions, worse visual learning, lower attention, and lower total score in the MCCB. In the above regression analyses we controlled doses of antipsychotic medications. The results suggest that a previously found relationship between older age and social cognition might be spurious, and strengthen observations that it is specifically later onset-age which fosters better social cognition in schizophrenia patients.

[The assessment of chosen psychometric features of B-CATS test battery in schizophrenia - preliminary report]. / Ocena wybranych wlasciwosci psychometrycznych baterii testów do pomiaru funkcjonowania poznawczego pacjentów psychotycznych B-CATS - wstepne opracowanie.

AIM: The assessment of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia proves helpful in the diagnosis of disease, identification of individuals at risk for adverse outcome and choosing the most adequate treatment. It is also a valuable complement of the psychiatric diagnosis. For this reason, there is a great need for a practical well-validated instrument to measure cognitive deficits that can be administered and interpreted easily in a clinical setting. The aim of the study was to verify the reliability, validity and practicality of the Brief Cognitive Assessment Tool for Schizophrenia (B-CATS) in a clinical setting. METHODS: 68 psychotic patients were included in the study during their stay in a psychiatric ward. A double measurement was conducted. Test-retest assessment included tests of B-CATS battery (TMT part B, Category Fluency, Digit Symbol Test). To evaluate the intensity of psychopathological symptoms the PANSS was performed. SLOF, GAF, GARF, SOFAS were used to assess functioning of the subjects. RESULTS: The B-CATS is characterized by a satisfactory relative stability. The absolute stability should be seen as sufficient in case of one test: Fluency. The diagnostic validity of the battery is satisfactory. B-CATS is easy to administer and "friendly" for the patient. CONCLUSIONS: B-CATS is a brief and practical instrument that can provide clinicians with meaningful data regarding the global cognitive functioning of the psychotic subjects.

[MATRICS consensus cognitive battery--standard for the assessment of cognitive functions in clinical trials in schizophrenia]. / Bateria testów MATRICS--standard oceny funkcji poznawczych w badaniach klinicznych w schizofrenii.

Cognitive dysfunctions often occur long before the onset of psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia. They include mostly deficits in attention, memory (including working memory) and executive functions. The level of cognitive impairment strongly influences the subjective quality of life and the ability to perform in social and professional roles. Therefore improvement of cognitive functioning is an important challenge in the treatment of schizophrenia. Until recently, the lack of a widely accepted standard for the measurement of cognitive change in schizophrenia has constituted an important obstacle in the development of cognition-enhancing treatments. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) has been created as a standard tool for the assessment of the level of cognitive functioning in schizophrenia patients and its changes in short time intervals. MCCB includes ten cognitive tests which measure seven separable cognitive domains: speed ofprocessing, attention/vigilance, working memory (both verbal and nonverbal), verbal learning, visual learning, reasoning and problem solving, and social cognition in schizophrenia. In validation studies, the MCCB demonstrated excellent reliability, minimal practice effects and significant correlations with measures of functional capacity. In this article we describe the MCCB and present a project aimed to adapt the MCCB to Polish.

[The use of event related potentials in psychiatric research]. / Zastosowanie badan potencjalów wywolanych zwiazanych z wydarzeniami poznawczymi w psychiatrii.

BACKGROUND: Event related potentials (ERPs) originate predominantly from cortical structures in response to information processing. In contrast to evoked potentials of short latency (<100 ms), long latency cognitive ERPs are not directly related to the physical characteristics of the stimulus, but rather to the information and meaning that the stimulus has for the investigated person. AIM: The aim of this review article was to present selected research questions in psychiatry that can be addressed with ERP studies. As examples we used studies performed in patients with schizophrenia and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHODS: ERPs can be recorded during well established cognitive tests in psychiatry: go-no go, n-back, continuous performance test (CPT), Wisconsin card sorting test, Stroop test, verbal learning test and many others. Several ERP components are used as endophenotypes in genetic psychiatric research. CONCLUSIONS: ERPs can be also useful in clinic related questions: identification of subject at high-risk of psychosis, assessment of attention deficits or selective attention problems in anxiety disorders, evaluation of early response to psychopharmacological treatment and efficacy of psychotherapeutic interventions.