The MATRICS (Measurement And Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia) guidelines list seven domains of function suitable for assessment when evaluating the potentially beneficial effects of pharmacological agents on cognition in schizophrenia. CANTAB Schizophrenia is based on these MATRICS guidelines, with the benefit of our knowledge gained from the more than 100 papers published on assessment of cognitive function in schizophrenia using CANTAB.

CANTAB tests are graded in difficulty and so can be used to test both highly impaired patients and high functioning individuals within the same study. This is important in schizophrenia where patients show a wide range of levels of cognitive performance.

Motor Screening	Rapid Visual Information Processing	Reaction Time	Spatial Working Memory
Induction/screening to familiarise participants with CANTAB	MATRICS domain (a), attention / vigilance	MATRICS domain (b), speed of processing	MATRICS domain (c), working memory
Verbal Recognition Memory	Paired Associates Learning	One Touch Stockings of Cambridge	Emotion Recognition Task
MATRICS domain (d), verbal learning and memory	MATRICS domain (e), visual learning and memory	MATRICS domain (f), reasoning and problem-solving	MATRICS domain (g), social cognition