Guanfacine Improves Cognition in Schizophrenia
People with disorders on the schizophrenia spectrum often suffer cognition problems that affect skills such as the processing of information about people and social situations (social cognition) and the execution of plans (executive function). At the 2015 meeting of the Society for Biological Psychiatry, researcher Larry J. Siever reported that the drug guanfacine improved these types of thinking in people with disorders on the schizophrenic spectrum compared to placebo. Participants were enrolled in a 7.5-week training program to improve cognition.
Oxytocin Improves Social Cognition In Schizophrenia
Researcher Josh Woolley and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco have found that intranasal oxytocin (at doses of 40 IU) improved social cognition in patients with schizophrenia when compared with placebo. Oxytocin is a hormone that facilitates social bonding. Social cognition refers to the way we understand what emotions other people are communicating through facial expression, voice, etc.
Interestingly, less complicated aspects of social cognition like recognizing affect and distinguishing between sincerity and sarcasm were not affected by the oxytocin treatment. However, more complex types of social inference (such as decoding whether an actor intended sarcasm versus telling a white lie) were substantially improved. These tasks evaluate “theory of mind”—the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others, and to recognize that another person’s mental state may be different from one’s own. These abilities are sometimes lacking in those with schizophrenia and other disorders, such as autism. Given that these abilities have been related to real world social functioning, Woolley and colleagues suggest that oxytocin could, for example, help these individuals to make more friends.
