 - There are some reliable, strongly consistent, and strong relationships between cognitive impairment and functional outcomes in schizophrenia, including community-based functions and the ability to acquire skills.
 - This association between nonsocial cognitive impairment and functional outcome are consistent across different countries and during the course of the illness.
 - The nonsocial cognitive impairment is a legitimate predictor for later community functioning.

Nonsocial cognition and functional outcome

 - Intervening variables between nonsocial cognition and functional outcome of schizophrenia include defeatist beliefs (an individual's negative attitude about one's ability to success) and motivational factors.
 - The pathways between the cognitions and functionings can be direct or indirect, depending on the situation.

Pathways from nonsocial cognition to functioning

Although it was expected that antipsychotic medications may reduce the symptoms of the patients and enhance the community integration, researches have shown that this did not happen. The impairments of nonsocial cognition and their functional outcome stay as challenges of the field.

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Colby College

- Schizophrenia research has predomi­nantly focused on nonsocial cognition (also referred to as neurocognition).
- Nonsocial cognition includes those commonly considered mental abilities, including speed of processing, verbal learning and memory, visuospatial learning and memory, working memory, attention/vigilance, and reasoning and problem solving.


Nonsocial Cognition 

Green, M. F., Horan, W. P., &amp; Lee, J. (2019). Nonsocial and social cognition in schizophrenia: Current evidence and Future Directions. World Psychiatry, 18(2), 146–161. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20624 

Nonsocial and social cognition in schizophrenia: current evidence and future directions

 - Impairments in these abilities of nonsocial cognition are proved to be core features of schizophrenia.
 - Nonsocial cognitive impairments are independent of positive psychotic symptoms, side effects of antipsychotic medications.
 - The impairments are also relatively stable during the time period of the illness and are detectable in different levels in unaffected biological relatives of the patient.

Nature of nonsocial cognitive impairment in schizophrenia

Implications of nonsocial cognitive impairment for community integration

There are mixed results from both pharmacological and cognitive perspectives of the interventions for nonsocial cognitive impairments of schizophrenia. Emerging evidence from other perspectives may also be rewarding with future explorations.

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