Cognitive deficits are a core and disabling feature of psychotic disorders, specifically schizophrenia. Current treatments for impaired cognition in schizophrenia remain insufficient. Recent research suggests transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex can potentiate cognitive improvements in healthy individuals and those with psychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia. However, this burgeoning literature has not been quantitatively evaluated. Through a literature search and quantitative review, we identified 194 papers on tDCS, psychosis, and cognition. Selection criteria included pre/post design and sham control to achieve specific sham-adjusted effect sizes. The 6 retained studies all address schizophrenia populations and include single and repeated stimulation, as well as within and between subject designs. Small positive effects were found for anodal stimulation on behavioral measures of attention and working memory, with tentative findings for cognitive ability and memory. Cathodal stimulation yielded a small positive effect on behaviorally measured cognitive ability. Neurophysiological measures of attention showed a small to medium down-modulation effect for anodal stimulation. Implications of these findings and guidelines for future research are discussed. As revealed by this report, due to the paucity of data available, much remains unknown regarding the clinical efficacy of tDCS in schizophrenia.

Background In recent years, there has been increased interest in the development of remote psychological assessments. These platforms increase accessibility and allow clinicians to monitor important health metrics, thereby informing patient-centered treatment. Objective In this study, we report the properties and usability of a new web-based neurocognitive assessment battery and present a normative data set for future use. Methods A total of 781 participants completed a portion of 8 tasks that captured performance in auditory processing, visual-spatial working memory, visual-spatial learning, cognitive flexibility, and emotional processing. A subset of individuals (n=195) completed a 5-question survey measuring the acceptability of the tasks. Results Between 252 and 426 participants completed each task. Younger individuals outperformed their older counterparts in 6 of the 8 tasks. Therefore, central tendency data metrics were presented using 7 different age bins. The broad majority of participants found the tasks interesting and enjoyable and endorsed some interest in playing them at home. Only 1 of 195 individuals endorsed not at all for the statement, “I understood the instructions.” Older individuals were less likely to understand the instructions; however, 72% (49/68) of individuals over the age of 60 years still felt that they mostly or very much understood the instructions. Conclusions Overall, the tasks were found to be widely acceptable to the participants. The use of web-based neurocognitive tasks such as these may increase the ability to deploy precise data-informed interventions to a wider population.

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BACKGROUND In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the development of remote psychological assessment. These platforms increase accessibility and allow clinicians to monitor important health metrics thereby informing patient-centered treatment. OBJECTIVE Here we report on the properties and usability of a new web-based neurocognitive assessment battery and present a normative dataset for future use. METHODS Seven hundred eighty-one participants completed a portion of 8 tasks which captured performance in auditory processing, visual-spatial working memory, visual-spatial learning, cognitive flexibility, and emotional processing. A subset of individuals (n=195) completed a five-question survey measuring the acceptability of the tasks. RESULTS Between 252 and 426 participants completed each task. Younger individuals outperformed their older counterparts on 6 of the 8 tasks. Therefore, central tendency data metrics were presented by seven different age bins. The broad majority of participants found the tasks interesting, enjoyable and endorsed some interest in playing them at home. Less than one percent of individuals endorsed not at all for the statement: I understood the instructions. Older individuals were more likely to understand the instructions to a lower extent; however, 72 percent of individuals over the age of 60 still felt that they understood the instructions at the level of mostly or very much. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the tasks were found to be widely acceptable to participants. Use of web-based neurocognitive tasks such as these may increase the ability to deploy precise data informed interventions to a wider population.