We have been investigating the efficacy of a set of neuroscience-based
cognitive training exercises designed
with the considerations described above (software developed
by Posit Science, Inc). Subjects were randomly
assigned to either 50 hours (1 hour per day, 5 days per
week) of a computer games control condition, or to 50
hours of computerized training that places implicit,
increasing demands on auditory perception and accurate
aural speech reception. Frequency discrimination and
phoneme recognition exercises targeted aspects of early
auditory processing deficits of schizophrenia, which have
been shown to affect higher-order cognitions such as
verbal memory, reading ability, and social-emotional
recognition.34-37 This psychophysical training was embedded
within increasingly complex auditory and verbal
working memory/verbal learning exercises that progress
from simple frequency discrimination to phoneme identification
and then recall of verbal instructions and narrative
details