Cognition in at-risk mental states for psychosis

RATIONALE: The devastating nature of schizophrenia and treatment limitations have triggered a search for early detection methods to enable interventions to be implemented as soon as the first signs and symptoms appear. In this effort, several studies have investigated the cognitive functions in individuals regarded as being in at-risk mental states (ARMS) for psychosis. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to make a systematic review of the literature regarding basic and social cognition in individuals in ARMS following the guidelines of the PRISMA statement. RESULTS: In general, the results of the 49 articles included in the review show that individuals in ARMS have pervasive cognitive deficits that seem to be greater in individuals who later convert to psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive impairment can be detected in individuals considered to be in ARMS according to current classifications and may serve as a risk marker for psychotic conversion; however, the lack of standardized criteria to define ARMS and of homogeneous cognitive assessment methods hamper the generalization of findings from different studies.