- Contact
- Resources
- Data Flow & Quality
- Our Process
- Our Test Batteries
- Our Tasks
- Detection Task
- Identification Task
- One Card Learning Task
- One Word Learning Task
- One Back Task
- Two Back Task
- Monitoring Task
- International Shopping List Task
- International Shopping List Task - Delayed Recall
- Chase Test
- Groton Maze Learning Test
- Groton Maze Learning Test - Delayed Recall
- Groton Maze Learning Test - Reverse Delayed Recall
- Social-Emotional Cognition Task
- Set-Shifting Task
- Continuous Paired Associate Learning Task
- Continuous Paired Associate Learning Task: Delayed Recall
- Introduction
The MATRICS Initiative
As a result of an agreement between the FDA and NIH that cognitive dysfunction/impairment is an important health issue in schizophrenia, the FDA confirmed that improved cognitive function would be considered as a primary outcome in schizophrenia research. Following this guidance, the MATRICS initiative (a collaboration of the FDA, NIH, academic researchers and industry), recommended a test battery for the assessment of cognition in people with schizophrenia.
Prior to the MATRICS initiative, there was no consensus on the optimum outcome measures for evaluation of cognitive function in clinical trials in schizophrenia. The test criteria recommended by the MATRICS group was defined as:
- High test-retest reliability
- Good coverage of cognitive domains
- Comparable alternative forms
- Strong internal consistency
- Well established in general population
- Demonstrated tolerability and acceptability
The MATRICS initiative also recommended the cognitive domains to be tested in order to assess cognitive function in schizophrenic patients. This is illustrated in the table below.
The CogState Scizophrenia Battery
Domain | MATRICS test | Equivalent CogState task |
Speed of Processing | Category Fluency / Symbol Coding | Detection Task |
Attention / Vigilance | Continuous Performance Task | Identification Task |
Working Memory | Verbal Span / Spatial Span | One-Back / Two-Back Task |
Visual Learning | Object Learning | One Card Learning Task |
Verbal Learning | Word List Learning | International Shopping List Task |
Reasoning / Problem Solving | Mazes | Groton Maze Learning Task |
Social Cognition | Managing Emotions Test | Social-Emotional Cognition Task |
CogState's Schizophrenia Battery was developed with all the MATRICS criteria and recommendations in mind. All CogState tasks have been developed to meet the criteria set out above with regards to scientific validity, reliability and consistency and we have selected a set of tasks that target those cognitive domains recommended by the MATRICS initiative.
The benefits of the CogState Schizophrenia Battery
- The test battery is rapid. It covers all necessary domains in around 35 minutes - minimizing the testing burden on both patient and test administrator.
- The user-friendly test battery allows for non-expert administration on standard computer equipment, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
- The tasks utilize culture-neutral stimuli - which ensures that they can be integrated into clinical trials all around the world regardless of each patient's culture, ethnicity, education or socio-economic status.
