Cognitive difficulties, including deficits in psychomotor speed, memory, attention, reasoning, and social cognition are key rate-limiting factors to functional recovery from psychotic disorders. These deficits appear to be present, in milder form, in children and adolescents who later go on to develop schizophrenia, as well as in individuals who are identified as being at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. Compelling evidence for effectiveness of psychosocial approaches to cognitive remediation in schizophrenia gives rise to the question of whether these approaches could be useful in ameliorating and/or preventing cognitive deficits in youth at CHR for psychosis. To date, a handful of studies using various cognitive remediation approaches in individuals at CHR have begun. This talk will provide an overview of extant literature in this area and will discuss current and future directions for the role of cognitive remediation in treatment for youth at CHR.
