View clinical trials related to Schizophrenia.
Filter by:Cannabis use disorder is a frequent comorbidity of schizophrenia, associated with increased symptoms and less adherence to therapy. Validated care has limited effectiveness in this population and development of new management strategies seems necessary. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has shown beneficial effects in both schizophrenia, substance use disorder and, in a less extent, in nicotine addiction in schizophrenic subjects. It is interesting to test if that 10 sessions of anodal stimulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and cathodal stimulation of the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) (by increasing control and modulating reward system), will reduce, in 110 schizophrenic subjects, cannabis consumption, and secondly craving, addiction severity, schizophrenic symptoms and improve global functioning. It is possible that these clinical effects will be associated with changes in certain cognitive functions and cerebral connectivity.
Given the superior effects of CT augmented tDCS in healthy subjects, the aim of the current study was to examine whether the effect of CT on cognition can be enhanced with concurrent anodal tDCS in schizophrenia patients. A double-blinded randomised controlled trial design was utilised and cognitive performances were examined at baseline (T0), immediately after the intervention (T1) and one month post-intervention (T2). It was hypothesized that concurrent CT with tDCS would result in greater and more sustainable cognitive improvement than CT alone because of increased susceptibility to neuroplasticity changes of the underlying activated network (Bikson et al., 2013; Orlov, O'Daly, et al., 2017). The effects of concurrent CT with tDCS were also assessed using blinded assessments of psychotic, negative symptoms, affective symptoms, psychosocial functioning, subjective quality of life (QOL) and tolerability in the two groups.
The visual system has increasingly been recognized as an important site of injury in patients with schizophrenia and other psychoses. Visual system alterations manifest as visual perceptual aberrations, deficits in visual processing, and visual hallucinations. These visual symptoms are associated with worse symptoms, poorer outcome and resistance to treatment. A recent study using brain lesion mapping of visual hallucinations and identified a causal location in the part of the brain that processes visual information (visual cortex). The association between visual cortex activation and visual hallucinations suggests that this region could be targeted using noninvasive brain stimulation. Two case studies have found that brain stimulation to the visual cortex improved visual hallucinations in treatment resistant patients with psychosis. While promising it is unclear whether these symptom reductions resulted from activity changes in the visual cortex or not. Here we aim to answer the question whether noninvasive brain stimulation when optimally targeted to the visual cortex can improve brain activity, visual processing and visual hallucinations. The knowledge gained from this study will contribute to the field of vision by providing a marker for clinical response and by personalizing treatment for patients with psychosis suffering from visual symptoms. This grant will allow us to set the foundation for a larger more targeted study utilizing noninvasive brain stimulation to improve visual symptoms in patients with psychosis.
Schizophrenia is a serious, disabling and unfortunately common disease. Its prevalence is in the order of 0.6 to 1% in the general population, a figure that remains relatively stable in the various cultures. The overall prognosis, particularly in terms of function, remains largely negative. The investigators know that a global management can considerably slow down this unfavourable evolution: according to the recommendations, the patient suffering from schizophrenia requires an effective and well-tolerated pharmacotherapy, associated with an adapted psychotherapy as well as cognitive remediation workshops, training in social skills, and psycho-education. There are indeed a large number of studies that have shown these elements in patients with schizophrenic disorders that have been present for several years. The investigators now know that early treatment is a key prognostic element. Indeed, the earlier care is provided during the first psychotic episode, the better the subsequent prognosis: the probability of further decompensation is reduced, as is the risk of developing deficits, such as cognitive difficulties. However, there is a lack of access to all the recommended aspects of management in the initial phase of the disorder, particularly concerning early psycho-educational programmes for patients, which have been relatively little studied in clinical research. In this context, it seems relevant to study the impact of a new programme of this type on a fundamental parameter, conditioning the subsequent access to care: the therapeutic alliance. "PPIC" is a short psycho-educational programme in 4 sessions, specifically designed to accompany young patients, and focused on the issues of this crucial period of the care process.
A clinical trial study to determine the effect of an investigational drug (SEP-363856) has on the way that the drug Metformin travels through the body in people with schizophrenia. This clinical trial will have approximately 24 subjects both male and female 18 year of age and older. This study will be conducted in approximately 2 study sites in the United States.
This study is open to adults with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia can affect the way a person thinks, their memory and their mental functioning. Examples include struggling to remember things, or to read a book or pay attention to a movie. Some people have difficulty calculating the right change or planning a trip so that they arrive on time. The purpose of this study is to find out whether a medicine called iclepertin improves learning and memory in people with schizophrenia. Participants are put into two groups randomly, which means by chance. One group takes iclepertin tablets and the other group takes placebo tablets. Placebo tablets look like iclepertin tablets but do not contain any medicine. Participants take a tablet once a day for 26 weeks. In addition, all participants take their normal medication for schizophrenia. During this time, doctors regularly test learning and memory of the participants by use of questionnaires, interviews, and computer tests. The results of the mental ability tests are compared between the groups. Participants are in the study for about 8 months and visit the study site about 14 times. During this time, doctors regularly check participants' health and take note of any unwanted effects.
Negative symptoms are core symptoms in schizophrenia which play an important role in clinical outcomes and impede patients to return to society. Anti-psychotic medicines have shown limited effect in improving negative symptoms and cognitive functioning, whereas non-invasive neuromodulations, i.e. , transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), have shown promising potentials. Recently new evidence of brain structural and functional alterations has been provided by neuroimaging studies. Brady RO et al. found cerebellar-prefrontal network connectivity was related to negative symptoms in schizophrenia. It provides clues for developing a new tACS protocol targeting improving negative symptoms, in which dual-channel high-density alternating current stimulations were delivered over both the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and cerebellum simultaneously.
Treatment of schizophrenia currently includes antipsychotic medications and cognitive therapies which improve some symptoms, but do not sufficiently restore cognitive functioning or reduce psychosocial disability. We hypothesize that medications that specifically target sensory information processing deficits, rather than psychotic symptoms per se, will significantly enhance the benefits of a sensory-based targeted cognitive training (TCT) intervention in patients with schizophrenia. We will complete a randomized, double-blind clinical trial to: 1) confirm that the drug memantine augments TCT learning; 2) determine whether memantine enhances the clinical benefits from a full 30 session course of TCT vs. TCT plus placebo in antipsychotic- medicated schizophrenia patients, and 3) determine if memantine's enhancement of TCT is most effective in biomarker-defined subgroups of patients.
This is a single-blind randomized within-subject crossover design study that will be conducted in 2 phases. In Phase 1, up to 50 participants, after signing informed consent and determining eligibility, will undergo a baseline EEG and cognitive assessment. In Phase 2 participants will undergo tACS at IAF+2Hz, IAF-2Hz, and IAF during a double-flash illusion task in a randomized order. The tACS will be applied with a current of 1-2 mA (milliamperes) via two saline soaked electrode sponges (25 cm²) applied to the back of the head. The investigator's hypothesis is that participant's will perform better on the visual task while tACS is set to 2 Hz above their IAPF, relative to tACS set to 2 Hz below their IAPF.
The present study plans to explore different cortical targets of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for populations at the early phase of psychosis, including those at clinical high risk of psychosis and in the first episode of psychosis. The clinical augmentation efficacy will be associated with the brain functional connectivity of these populations.