Many individuals with a psychotic illness experience difficulties with thinking skills such as attention and memory. These difficulties can interfere with performance at work and school. As such, alleviating cognitive impairment may improve educational and vocational performance which, in turn, might improve long term outcome. Several studies have found that computer-based brain training programs improve cognitive function in psychotic disorders. For example, several weeks of training with the online BrainHQ program developed by Posit Science can improve verbal memory and problem solving, even in people experiencing their first psychotic episode. Combining brain training with supportive employment may be especially beneficial for long term outcome. However, not all studies have found that brain-training programs are effective at treating cognitive difficulties. Moreover, at this time there are no published studies on the effectiveness of one of the most popular programs, Lumosity, for treating cognitive impairment in psychotic disorders.
While preliminary results are promising, more research is needed to confirm the effectiveness of brain training programs in psychosis, determine how many hours of training a person has to complete to see benefits, and establish which individuals will most likely benefit from brain training.
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