Gabriele Sachs (Austria)
Medical University of Vienna
Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Prof. Dr. Dr. Gabriele Sachs is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical University of Vienna (MUW), Austria. Prof. Sachs established a clinical research program for patients with schizophrenia at MUW, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. She was head of the Outpatient Clinic for patients with first episode schizophrenia and of the Clinical Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group. From 2012-2014 she was Medical Director of the Neuropsychiatric State Hospital Wagner - Jauregg Linz, Upper Austria. Since 2013 she is President of the Austrian Society of Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry (ÖGPB). Since 2015 she is a member of the ECNP - Schizophrenia Network. The main topics of her research work are cognition and emotion recognition in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, validation of new neuropsychological assessments and neuro-psychological intervention programs. She is specialist in Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine as well as clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. From 2010 to 2015 she was Project Partner of the EU Project: FP7 - Health – 2009. 2.2.1-2: European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks Studying Gene Environment Interactions (EU-GEI). Since 2016 she was Project Partner of the EU Project: FP7 –Health – 2013.2.2.1-2: Translating neuroimaging findings from research into clinical practice (PSYSCAN).

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 Conference Calendar

Cognitive and Social Cognitive Impairment and their Impact on Real-Life Functioning and Quality of life.

Session Name
1360 - LIVE - Workshop 06: Assessment and Treatment of Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia (ID 70)
Session Type
Clinical/Therapeutic
Date
Sun, 05.06.2022
Session Time
17:00 - 18:30
Room
Hall D
Session Icon
Fully Live, Section
Presenter
Lecture Time
17:11 - 17:22

Abstract

Abstract Body

Cognitive and social cognitive impairments are a central feature of schizophrenia and are known to significantly affect real-life functioning [1]. These impairments include deficits in memory, language function and executive function, as well as in processing speed and attention. In the domains of social cognition, face perception [2], voice perception, mentalizing and emotion regulation have been described to be affected. All deficits, cognitive and social-cognitive, can persist during symptomatic remission. Social cognition is a partial mediator between neurocognition and functional outcome.

Recent research has demonstrated that neurocognition affects functional capacity and that social cognition affects community functioning [3].

The impact of cognition on quality of life (QOL) was shown in a large meta-analytic study, in which a moderate correlation of verbal ability and processing speed with subjective quality of life was found [4].

A network analysis showed that functional capacity and everyday life skills were the most central and highly interconnected nodes in the network. Functional capacity bridged cognition with everyday life skills, the everyday life skills node was linked to disorganization and expressive deficits [5].

Deficits in neurocognition and social cognition play a pivotal role as enduring impairment after clinical remission and as a critical rate-limiting factor in functional recovery.

[1] Green et al. Schizophr Bull. 2000; 26(1): 119-136

[2] Sachs et al. Schizophr Res. 2004; 68(1):27-35

[3] Bechi et al. Psychiatry Res. 2017; 251:118-124

[4] Tolman & Kurtz Schizophr Bull. 2012; 272:419-424

[5] Galderisi et al. JAMA Psychiatry. 2018; 75(4):396-404

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