Improving Facial Emotion Recognition in Schizophrenia: a Controlled Study Comparing Specific and Attentional Focused Cognitive Remediation.

Cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia are very frequent. Deficits associated with cognitive impairment may impact both neurocognitionand social cognition, including facial emotion recognition. These deficits significantly impair functional recovery, and also the social and vocational rehabilitationof people with schizophrenia. Previous studies in this area clearly demonstrated the interest of cognitive remediation to improve neurocognitiveand social cognitivefunctioning in schizophrenia. They also established clear links between facial emotion recognitionskills and attentional processes. The present study compares the GAIA s-face program (GAIA arm), which focuses on facial emotion recognitionprocesses, with the RECOS program (RECOS arm), a neurocognitiveremediation therapy focusing on selective attention. Forty people with schizophrenia were randomly distributed between each study arm and assessed pre- (T1) and post- (T2) therapy. The single blind assessment focused on facial emotion recognition(the main criteria), symptoms, social and subjective functioning, and neurocognitiveand social cognitiveperformance. Both programs were conducted by nurses after a three day training session. The study showed a significant improvement in facial emotion recognitionperformance in both groups, with a significantly larger effect in the GAIA arm. Symptoms and social functioning also improved in the GAIA arm, and certain neurocognitiveand social cognitiveprocesses improved in both study arms. Further studies are recommended, with larger population samples and a follow up assessing the long term preservation of these improvements.