ABSTRACT
Cognitive control describes the ability to flexibly adapt to a changing environment by updating internal goals and carrying out goal-directed behavior based on the situational context. It encompasses a broad range of cognitive domains including attention, working memory, rule generation, inhibition, language, and emotional and social processing. Abnormalities in cognition in schizophrenia were first noted by Bleuler (1911) and Kraepelin (1919) near the time of the first description of the disease, and are now considered one of the most disabling deficits in schizophrenia. Cognitive deficits have been repeatedly associated with negative symptoms, disorganization (Dibben et al. 2009), thought disorder (Kerns and Berenbaum, 2003), and poor functional outcome (Green et al. 2000). Furthermore, cognitive deficits show evidence of arising prior to or during the prodromal phase, before a diagnosis of schizophrenia has been made (Cannon et al. 2002). Current therapies, however, have only modest impact on cognition (Minzenberg and Carter 2012). Thus, understanding the nature of deficits in cognitive control, and how such diverse domains of dysfunction are linked to pathophysiology, is of central importance to the improvement of the function and care of patients with schizophrenia.
