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Enhancing Prefrontal Oscillations and Working Memory in Early-course Schizophrenia

Enhancing Prefrontal Oscillatory Activity and Working Memory Performance With Noninvasive Brain Stimulation in Early-course Schizophrenia

Who can join

As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.

Age
18 Years to 40 Years
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Not accepted
Compensation
Not stated

Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

What to expect

No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.

What participation involves

Not stated in the study description — ask the study team about visits and procedures.

Compensation
Not stated
  • Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
  • Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
  • Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
  • Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.

About this study

In plain language

This study tests whether a type of magnetic brain stimulation called iTBS can change brain activity and improve working memory—the ability to hold and use information for a short time. It is for adults ages 18–40 with a schizophrenia-related disorder whose psychosis began less than 3 years ago. The study compares active stimulation with sham stimulation, which is not active.

This study will investigate the effects of intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (iTBS) on natural oscillatory frequency of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and working memory in early-course schizophrenia (EC-SCZ). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) will be used to evoke oscillatory activity, and EEG will record the responses of EC-SCZ participants. A working memory task will also be incorporated in order to determine how DLPFC natural frequency (NF) is related to working memory performance. iTBS (active or sham) will be administered, then the oscillatory activity of DLPFC and working memory performance will be reassessed. The overarching goal is to determine whether iTBS can acutely enhance the oscillatory activity of the DLPFC and to evaluate the relationship between changes in the DLPFC and working memory performance.

Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.

Eligibility

Who can join

  • You are 18–40 years old.
  • You have a diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder.
  • Your psychosis—symptoms such as seeing or hearing things others do not—began less than 3 years ago, based on your symptoms or treatment history.

Who can't join

  • You have an intellectual developmental disorder, which affects learning and daily life skills, or cannot give informed consent to join.
  • You have had a serious head injury or a concussion that made you pass out for more than 10 minutes.
  • You have an illness that affects brain structure or function, a serious nerve or brain disorder, or a personal or family history of epilepsy (a seizure disorder).
  • You have had electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a treatment that uses electricity to cause a controlled seizure.
  • You have diabetes with seizures, loss of feeling or weakness in your arms or legs, or brief periods of passing out.
  • You are pregnant or less than 6 weeks past giving birth or having a miscarriage.
  • Your psychotic illness began around the time of substance use or a head injury.
  • You have current or past dependence on alcohol or drugs that affect the mind, or have misused substances other than cannabis or alcohol in the past year.

Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: 1. ages 18-40 years 2. DSM diagnoses of Schizophrenia Spectrum Axis I disorders 3. a duration of less than three years from beginning of psychosis, defined by report of symptoms and/or history of treatment, based on clinical guidelines employed in our UPMC psychoses clinics in Pittsburgh. Exclusion Criteria: 1. DSM intellectual developmental disorder 2. significant head injury 3. medical illness affecting brain structure or function 4. significant neurologic disorder (e.g. seizure disorder) 5. personal history or family history of epilepsy 6. inability to provide informed consent 7. concussion with loss of consciousness (LOC) greater than 10 minutes 8. history of electroconvulsive therapy 9. diabetes with associated seizures, loss of sensation/weakness in arms or legs, or momentary LOC 10. pregnancy or postpartum (\<6 weeks after delivery or miscarriage), as determined by self-report 11. a psychotic illness with a temporal relation to substance use or head injury. 12. current or past co-morbidity for alcohol or psychoactive substance dependence 13. substance abuse, other than cannabis and/or alcohol, within the past one year

Study sites (1)

PA