 |
Matthew Kurtz, PhD
Institute of Living and
Department of Psychiatry
Yale University School of Medicine
200 Retreat Avenue
Whitehall Building - Institute of Living
Hartford CT 06106
Phone: 860-545-7304
Email: mkurtz@harthosp.org |
Who Am I?
Dr. Kurtz received his undergraduate degree in
Psychology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, in 1989 (Phi Beta Kappa),
his doctorate in Psychology and Neuroscience at Princeton University in 1995
and post-doctoral training in neuropsychiatric aspects of schizophrenia in
the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania with Dr.
Raquel Gur. Dr. Kurtz arrived as a psychologist in the Schizophrenia
Rehabilitation Program at The Institute of Living and as an Assistant
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, in 2000 and
was promoted to the role of Senior Research Scientist in 2005 at the Olin
Neuropsychiatry Research Center and the Schizophrenia Rehabilitation
Program. Dr. Kurtz is a licensed psychologist and a member of the American
Psychological Association and the International Neuropsychological Society.
He is the recipient of a 2003 NARSAD Young Investigator Travel Grant and a
2005 Hartford Hospital New Investigator Award.
Interests
The
focus of Dr. Kurtz’s research program and clinical work is the development
and evaluation of novel behavioral approaches for treatment of deficits in
attention, memory and problem-solving in people with schizophrenia. The
efficacy of these interventions, known collectively as cognitive
remediation, are assessed with outcome measures that range across a variety
of levels of analysis including functional neuroimaging data, standardized
neurocognitive probes, clinic-administered mediational measures of
functioning, and achieved community function and employment status. More
recent work is directed at augmenting evidence-based practices in
rehabilitation, such as social-skills training, with novel approaches to
cognitive remediation in schizophrenia. Dr. Kurtz is also interested in
refining methods for measuring neurocognitive dysfunction in patients with
schizophrenia, elucidating the neural substrates underlying impaired
neurocognition in this population, and developing remediation strategies for
deficits in emotion recognition and other aspects of social cognition.
Dr.Kurtz’s research is currently funded by the National Institute of Mental
Health (NIMH), the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and
Depression (NARSAD), and Hartford Hospital Research Administration.
Publications
Kurtz, M.M., Campbell, B.A. Paradoxical autonomic responses to aversive
stimuli in the developing rat. Behavioral Neuroscience 108: 962-971,
1994.
Kurtz, M.M., Moberg, P.J., Gur, R.E. Aging and schizophrenia.
Clinical Geriatrics 6: 51-60, 1998.
Kurtz, M.M., Moberg, P.J., Harper Mozley, L., Hickey, T., Arnold,
S.E., Bilker, W.B.
Gur, R.E. The relationship of neuropsychological impairment to functional
status in elderly patients with schizophrenia. International Journal of
Geriatric Psychiatry 16: 631-638, 2001.
Kurtz, M.M., Ragland, J.D., Bilker, W.B., Gur, R.C., Gur R.E.
Comparison of two forms of
the Continuous Performance Test, with and without working memory demands, in
healthy controls and patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research
48: 307-316, 2001.
Kurtz, M.M., Moberg, P.J., Harper Mozley, L., Swanson, C.S., Gur, R.
C., Gur, R.E.
Effectiveness of an attention and memory training program on
neuropsychological deficits in schizophrenia. Neurorehabilitation and
Neural Repair 15: 75-80, 2001.
Kurtz, M.M., Moberg, P.J., Gur, R.C., Gur, R.E. Approaches to
remediation of
neuropsychological deficits in schizophrenia: A review and meta-analysis.
Neuropsychology Review 11: 197-210, 2001.
Bilker, W.B., Brensinger, C., Kurtz, M.M., Kohler, C., Gur, R.C.,
Siegel , S.J., Gur, R.E.
Development of an abbreviated quality of life scale using a new method.
Neuropsychopharmacology, 28: 773-777, 2003.
Kurtz, M. M. Neurocognitive rehabilitation for schizophrenia.
Current Psychiatry Reports.
5: 303-310, 2003.
Kurtz, M.M., Ragland, J.D., Moberg, P.J., Gur, R.C. The Penn
Conditional Exclusion Test:
A new measure of executive-function with alternate forms. Archives of
Clinical Neuropsychology 19, 191-201, 2004.
Kurtz, M.M., Wexler, B.E., Bell, M.D. The Penn Conditional Exclusion
Test: Relationship to performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and
work function in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research
68, 95-102, 2004.
Kurtz, M.M., Moberg, P.J., Ragland, J.D., Gur, R.C., Gur, R.E.
Symptoms vs. neurocognitive test performance as predictors of psychosocial
status in schizophrenia: A 1- and 4-year follow-up study. Schizophrenia
Bulletin. 31, 167-174, 2005.
St. Germain, S.A., Kurtz, M.M., Pearlson, G.D., Astur, R.S.
Individuals with schizophrenia drive more slowly and erratically than
controls on a driving simulator. Schizophrenia Research. 74, 121-122,
2005.
Kurtz, M.M. Neurocognitive deficits across the lifespan in
schizophrenia: A research update. Schizophrenia Research. 74, 15-26,
2005.
Kurtz, M.M., Seltzer, J.C., Ferrand, J.L. Wexler, B.E. Neurocognitive
function in schizophrenia at a 10-year follow-up: A preliminary
investigation. CNS Spectrums. 10, 277-280, 2005.
Kiehl, K.A., Stevens, M.C., Celone, K., Kurtz, M.M., Krystal J.H.
Abnormal hemodynamics in schizophrenia during an auditory oddball task.
Biological Psychiatry. 57, 1029-1040, 2005.
Kurtz, M.M., Wexler, B.E. Differences in performance and learning
proficiency on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in schizophrenia: Do they
reflect distinct neurocognitive subtypes with distinct functional profiles?
Schizophrenia Research 81, 167-171, 2006.
Kurtz, M.M. Symptoms versus neurocognitive skills as correlates of
everyday functioning in patients with severe mental illness: A review and
synthesis. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. 6, 47-56, 2006.
Baker, E.K., Kurtz, M.M., Astur, R.S. Virtual reality assessment of
medication compliance in
patients with schizophrenia. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 9,
224-229, 2006.
Seltzer, J.C., Kurtz, M.M., Thime, W. The Schizophrenia
Rehabilitation Program at the Institute of Living: Combining neurocognitive,
motivational and vocational rehabilitation. The Behavior Therapist,
29, 30-35, 2006.
Kurtz, M.M., Baker, E., Pearlson, G.D., Astur, R.S. A virtual-reality
apartment as a measure of medication management skills in patients with
schizophrenia: A pilot study. Schizophrenia Bulletin, in press.
Kurtz, M.M., Seltzer, J.C., Shagan, D.S., Thime W.R., Wexler, B.E.
Computer-assisted cognitive remediation in schizophrenia: What is the active
ingredient? Schizophrenia Research, in press.