New approaches to measurement and treatment research to improve cognition in schizophrenia.

An overview is provided of the set of articles included in this special issue of Schizophrenia Bulletin that were derived from the final meeting of the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) program. These essays summarize the presentations and discussions of the MATRICS New Approaches Conference that examined the future needs of the field for a coordinated research effort to improve the preclinical and clinical science required to optimize new cotreatments for the cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia. Specific priorities for a research agenda involving collaborations among academic, industrial, and governmental participants are addressed.