Cognitive remediation in schizophrenia - now it is really getting personal

- Cognitive remediation has moderate positive effects on cognitive difficulties in schizophrenia.
- Reward learning mechanisms are influenced by cognitive remediation.
- Augmenting cognitive remediation with rehabilitation leads to better functioning.

Cognitive problems are consistently documented in people with schizophrenia. They negatively influence functioning and contribute to the long term consequences of the illness. Cognitive remediation (CR) is a psychological intervention developed to target these cognitive difficulties. There is evidence that CR is beneficial but there is still a limited understanding of how the putative active therapy ingredients contribute to changes in the brain and translate into improved functioning. This paper reviews recent research focused on topics that, in our view, will drive future developments such as the identification of translational mechanisms, the personalisation of CR, the best implementation methods and potential augmenting strategies to improve treatment effectiveness.