Virtual Reality Environments to rehabilitation Attention deficits in schizophrenic patients

Abstract. Cognitive dysfunction is a core feature of schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia shown perform poorly on tasks that require vigilance or sustained attention. Patients with more pronounced attention deficits are least likely to acquire skills in psychosocial programs as the attention problems makes it difficult for them to process the information given in groups, and they may not be able to sustain attention for the session duration. The study aimed to develop a Virtual Reality cognitive training to improve the selective, divide and sustained attention. Specifically, we developed, via the NeuroVr 2.0 software, three different virtual environments with the hierarchical sequences of tasks. The study included two clinical samples of patients suffering from schizophrenia disorder: experimental group (9 patients) treated with pharmacological therapy and Virtual Reality cognitive training (10 weekly individual sessions); control group (6 patients) received pharmacological therapy and Integrated Psychological Treatment. Before and after training