Sophia Vinogradov, M.D.

Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry

E-MAIL: [email protected]

Research Interests:

Dr. Sophia Vinogradov directs a translational clinical neuroscience laboratory that focuses on cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia.  In collaboration with basic scientists, she studies neuroscience-informed computerized cognitive training exercises for patients with schizophrenia that aim to drive enduring plastic changes in cortical processing. The training programs utilize adaptive algorithms to adjust the difficulty level to maintain a 70-80% correct performance rate, allowing for a customized approach to each individual’s initial performance level and progress rate. Spanning several aspects of cognitive functioning, the exercises fine tune sensory processing speed, working memory, and attention as well as higher-order cognitive processes. In turn, this results in significant improvements in untrained cognitive skills as well as improvements in quality of life. Dr. Vinogradov uses MEG and fMRI methods to probe the brain changes in both early sensory processing and higher-order cognitive operations in subjects who undergo this cognitive training. More recently, she has begun to apply these methods to the study of adolescents who are prodromal for schizophrenia and young adults in early psychosis, with the goal of delaying or preventing the onset of a deteriorating psychiatric illness. Her work has contributed to a growing interest in the use of computerized “brain training” to treat some of the brain information processing abnormalities of psychiatric illnesses.


Selected Publications:

(For a comprehensive list of recent publications, refer to PubMed, a service provided by the National Library of Medicine.)

  • Vinogradov S, Chafee MV, Lee E, Morishita H. Psychosis spectrum illnesses as disorders of prefrontal critical period plasticity. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2023 Jan;48(1):168-185.
  • Loewy R, Fisher M, Ma S, Carter C, Ragland JD, Niendam TA, Stuart B, Schlosser D, Amirfathi F, Yohannes S, Vinogradov S. Durable cognitive gains and symptom improvement are observed in individuals with recent-onset schizophrenia 6 months after a randomized trial of auditory training completed remotely. Schizophr Bull. 2021 Sep 12:sbab102. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbab102.
  • Capizzi R, Fisher M, Biagianti B, Ghiasi N, Currie A, Fitzpatrick K, Albertini N, Vinogradov S. Testing a novel web-based neurocognitive battery in the general community: Validation and usability study. J Med Internet Res. 2021 May 6;23(5):e25082.
  • Nahum M, Lee H, Fisher M, Green MF, Hooker CI, Ventura J, Jordan JT, Rose A, Kim SJ, Haut KM, Merzenich MM, Vinogradov S. Online social cognition training in schizophrenia: A double-blind, randomized, controlled multi-site clinical trial. Schizophr Bull. 2021;47(1):108-117.
  • Roisum R, Jenkins D, Fisher M, Currie A, Ma S, Lindgren C, Meyer-Kalos P, Vinogradov S. Targeting cognition and motivation in coordinated specialty care for early psychosis: A grant report. J Psychiatr Brain Sci. 2020;5:e200023.
  • Puig O, Fisher M, Loewy R, Miley K, Ramsay IS, Carter CS, Ragland JD, Niendam T, Vinogradov S. Early- versus adult-onset schizophrenia as a predictor of response to neuroscience-informed cognitive training. J Clin Psychiatry. 2020 Mar 3;81(2):18m12369.
  • Kummerfeld E, Ma S, Blackman RK, DeNicola AL, Redish AD, Vinogradov S, Crowe DA, Chafee MV. Cognitive control rrrors in nonhuman primates resembling those in schizophrenia reflect opposing effects of NMDA receptor blockade on causal interactions between cells and circuits in prefrontal and parietal cortices. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2020 Jul;5(7):705-714.
  • Ramsay IS, Roach BJ, Fryer S, Fisher M, Loewy R, Ford JM, Vinogradov S, Mathalon DH. Increased global cognition correlates with increased thalamo-temporal connectivity in response to targeted cognitive training for recent onset schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2020 Apr;218:131-137.
  • Surti TS, Vinogradov S, Bell MD, Wexler BE. Improvement on visual cognitive training exercises in schizophrenia is present but less robust than in healthy individuals. Schizophr Res. 2020 Feb;216:538-540.
  • Vinogradov S. Standardizing measures for early psychosis: What are our goals? Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2020 Jan;5(1):4-6.
  • Dale CL, Brown EG, Herman AB, Hinkley LBN, Subramaniam K, Fisher M, Vinogradov S, Nagarajan SS. Intervention-specific patterns of cortical function plasticity during auditory encoding in people with schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2020 Jan;215:241-249.
  • Loewy RL, Corey S, Amirfathi F, Dabit S, Fulford D, Pearson R, Hua JPY, Schlosser D, Stuart BK, Mathalon DH, Vinogradov S. Childhood trauma and clinical high risk for psychosis. Schizophr Res. 2019 Mar;205:10-14.
  • Morishita H, Vinogradov S. Neuroplasticity and dysplasticity processes in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2019 May;207:1-2.
  • Miley K, Fisher M, Nahum M, Howard E, Rowlands A, Brandrett B, Woolley J, Hooker CI, Biagianti B, Ramsay I, Vinogradov S. Six month durability of targeted cognitive training supplemented with social cognition exercises in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res Cogn. 2019 Dec 26;20:100171.
  • Biagianti B, Fisher M, Brandrett B, Schlosser D, Loewy R, Nahum M, Vinogradov S. Development and testing of a web-based battery to remotely assess cognitive health in individuals with schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2019 Jun;208:250-257.
  • Kantrowitz JT, Swerdlow NR, Dunn W, Vinogradov S. Auditory system target engagement during plasticity-based interventions in schizophrenia: A focus on modulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate-type glutamate receptor function. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2018 Jul;3(7):581-590.
  • Subramaniam K, Gill J, Fisher M, Mukherjee P, Nagarajan S, Vinogradov S. White matter microstructure predicts cognitive training-induced improvements in attention and executive functioning in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2018;193:276-283.
  • Vinogradov S, Nagarajan S. Association of sensory processing with higher-order cognition and functioning in schizophrenia: Mapping the world. JAMA Psychiatry. 2017;74(1):17-18.
  • Fisher M, Nahum M, Howard E, Rowlands A, Brandrett B, Kermott A, Woolley J, Vinogradov S. Supplementing intensive targeted computerized cognitive training with social cognitive exercises for people with schizophrenia: An interim report. Psychiatr Rehabil J. 2017;40(1):21-32.
  • Ramsay IS, Ma S, Fisher M, Loewy RL, Ragland JD, Niendam T, Carter CS, Vinogradov S. Model selection and prediction of outcomes in recent onset schizophrenia patients who undergo cognitive training. Schizophr Res Cogn. 2017 Nov 8;11:1-5.
  • Loewy R, Fisher M, Schlosser DA, Biagianti B, Stuart B, Mathalon DH, Vinogradov S. Intensive auditory cognitive training improves verbal memory in adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk for psychosis. Schizophr Bull. 2016 Jul;42 Suppl 1:S118-26.
  • Dale CL, Brown EG, Fisher M, Herman AB, Dowling AF, Hinkley LB, Subramaniam K, Nagarajan SS, Vinogradov S. Auditory cortical plasticity drives training-induced cognitive changes in schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 2016;42(1):220-228.
  • Fisher M, Loewy R, Carter C, Lee A, Ragland JD, Niendam T, Schlosser D, Pham L, Miskovich T, Vinogradov S. Neuroplasticity-based auditory training via laptop computer improves cognition in young individuals with recent onset schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 2015 Jan;41(1):250-8.
Sophia Vinogradov