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Inter-Brain Synchrony in Schizophrenia

Inter-Brain Synchrony as a Neural Mechanism of Social Connection in 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 65 Years
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
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

  • Procedures mentioned: Interviews

Only what the study's summary and detailed description on ClinicalTrials.gov say. Time periods may describe the whole study or a part of it — ask the study team what applies to you.

Show the study's own words
  • "Participants will: * Have a clinicial diagnostic interview and be assessed for clinical symptoms * Have an EEG recorded while interacting with another person."
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 looks at how two people's brain activity lines up when they interact, called inter-brain synchrony. It tests whether feeling closer to another person changes this brain activity. The study compares people with schizophrenia with people who do not have psychotic disorders.

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate for the first time in people with schizophrenia a neural mechanism that is thought to facilitate the formation of social connections - inter-brain synchrony - in order to improve scientific understanding of the neural mechanisms of social dysfunction in the disorder, and to provide a basis for the development of new and better treatments to improve social functioning and connectedness in the illness. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Investigate inter-brain synchrony as a neural mechanism of social connection in schizophrenia 2. Manipulate social closeness and test for effects on inter-brain synchrony across groups The investigators will compare results from people with schizophrenia to a healthy comparison group (controls) who do not have psychotic disorders to see if inter-brain synchrony is greater in controls. Investigators will also compare measures of inter-brain synchrony before and after the social closeness manipulation to see if inter-brain synchrony changes with increasing closeness. Participants will: * Have a clinicial diagnostic interview and be assessed for clinical symptoms * Have an EEG recorded while interacting with another person. Participants will first work with the other person to draw a figure, and then tap fingers together. Participants will then either undergo the experimental manipulation to increase social closeness (called, "fast friends") or undergo the control condition that does not increase social closeness (called "small talk"). Participants will then repeat the drawing and finger tapping assessment. * After completing the experimental or control condition, participants will then repeat the procedure with the other condition that was not yet done. * Be interviewed on the number and quality of social interactions.

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

Eligibility

Who can join

  • Speak and understand enough English to follow the study steps.
  • For the schizophrenia group: have a schizophrenia diagnosis under DSM-5, a guide used to diagnose mental health conditions.
  • For the schizophrenia group: receive care outside a hospital, with no hospital stays in the past 3 months and no medicine changes in the past month.
  • For the comparison group: have no psychotic disorder or schizophrenia-related disorder, which can affect a person's sense of what is real.
  • For the comparison group: have no current major mood disorder, such as major depression.
  • For the comparison group: have no parent, sibling, or child with a history of a psychotic disorder.

Who can't join

  • Have an IQ score below 70 or a developmental disability.
  • Have a history of a major brain or nerve disease or a serious head injury.
  • Have had a moderate or severe substance use disorder in the past 3 months.
  • Have a positive urine drug test on the day of the assessment.
  • Have taken medicines that cause sleepiness or treat anxiety within 12 hours before the assessment.

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

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * sufficient English fluency to comprehend procedures * clinical group will include individuals with a DSM-5 diagnosis of schizophrenia who are clinically stable (outpatients, with no hospitalizations 3 months prior to enrollment and no medication changes 1 month prior to enrollment) * members of the community without a psychotic disorder, schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, or current major mood disorder, nor history of a first-degree relative with a psychotic disorder. Exclusion Criteria: * evidence of IQ \< 70 or developmental disability * history of significant neurological disease, serious head injury, or significant current substance use (moderate or severe substance use disorder in the last 3 months, positive urine toxicology screen on the day of assessment, or sedatives/anxiolytics taken within 12 hours of the assessment)

Study sites (1)

CA