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Computerized assessment of cognition in schizophrenia: Promises and pitfalls of CANTAB

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Marie-Noëlle Levaux ,
Stéphane Potvin ,
Amir Ali Sepehry ,
Juliette Sablier ,
Adrianna Mendrek  and
Emmanuel Stip
Marie-Noëlle Levaux
Affiliation:
Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin, Hospital Louis-H Lafontaine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Stéphane Potvin
Affiliation:
Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin, Hospital Louis-H Lafontaine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Amir Ali Sepehry
Affiliation:
Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin, Hospital Louis-H Lafontaine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Juliette Sablier
Affiliation:
Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin, Hospital Louis-H Lafontaine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Adrianna Mendrek
Affiliation:
Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin, Hospital Louis-H Lafontaine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Emmanuel Stip*
Affiliation:
Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin, Hospital Louis-H Lafontaine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
*
*Corresponding author at: Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin, 7331 Hochelaga, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H1N 3V2. Tel.: +1 (514) 251 4015; fax: +1 (514) 251 2617. E-mail address: emmanuel.stip@umontreal.ca (E. Stip).
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Abstract

Objective

Over the last decade, the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), which comprises visuo-spatial tasks, has been utilized in cognitive studies of schizophrenia. A clear approach concerning the usage of CANTAB for the appraisal of neurocognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia is currently lacking.

Method

In this paper, we have first reviewed the overall applications of CANTAB and then evaluated methodological strengths and weaknesses of CANTAB as a neurocognitive battery for schizophrenia. We carried out a systematic search and assessment of studies where CANTAB was utilized to measure cognitive function in schizophrenia. We have also attempted to quantify the available data and perform a meta-analysis, but this approach turned out to be still premature.

Results

CANTAB has enabled researchers to highlight significant deficits affecting broad cognitive domains in schizophrenia, such as working memory, decision-making, attention, executive functions and visual memory. So far, the most consistent deficit observed with CANTAB testing has been attentional set-shifting, suggestive of fronto-striatal dysfunctions. In addition, preliminary evidence points towards the potential use of CANTAB to identify cognitive predictors of psychosocial functioning, to describe the relationships between symptoms and cognition, and to measure the impact of pharmacological agents on cognitive functioning.

Conclusion

CANTAB has been used successfully to highlight the range of visuo-spatial cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, producing similar results to those obtained with some traditional neuropsychological tests. Further studies validating the use of CANTAB following the standard set by Measurement And Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) are warranted.

Keywords

SchizophreniaCognitionCANTABMemory
Type
Review
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , March 2007 , pp. 104 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2006

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