The Effect of tDCS on Schizophrenia With Negative Symptoms

Clinical Trials for Neuroimaging and Electrophysiology in Schizophrenic Patients With Negative Symptoms Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

The investigators conducted a randomized controlled trial to reveal the effect of tDCS on negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and its underlying mechanism using the neuroimaging and electrophysiology.

The project will investigate the use of a novel technique, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. tDCS permit the application of an extremely weak continuous electrical current to the brain through an anode and a cathode applied on the scalp. Anodal stimulation appears to increase brain activity whereas cathodal stimulation has the opposite effect. Using anodal and cathodal tDCS the investigators aimed to treat negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The investigators plan to apply tDCS such that it can simultaneously increased activity in the frontal brain areas and reduce activity over temporoparietal cortex, 2 areas involved in the physiopathology of the disease. Real active stimulation will be compare to a sham condition in 44 patients (22 in each group). 44 patients will be included in Seoul National University Hospital

All researchers will conduct research with only the encrypted subject number. A separate third-party researcher will participate to encrypt the subject and adjust the active/sham direction of the tDCS device during the actual research.

2mA direct current, 20 minutes per session, 2 sessions per day with at least 3hours interval between sessions, a total of 10 tDCS sessions

sham direct current, 20 minutes per session, 2 sessions per day with at least 3hours interval between sessions, a total of 10 tDCS sessions

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a form of neurostimulation that uses constant, low direct current delivered via electrodes on the head. It can be contrasted with cranial electrotherapy stimulation, which generally uses alternating current the same way

changes in psychopathology To assess a patient using PANSS, an approximately 45-minute clinical interview is conducted. The patient is rated from 1 to 7 on 30 different symptoms based on the interview as well as reports of family members or primary care hospital workers

changes in psychopathology The CAINS is a clinical rating scale for negative symptoms with potent and clear treatment targets for the next generation of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments. It rangs between 0 to 52

Changes in concentration of N-Acetyl Aspartate, Creatin, Choline, Myoinositol, Glutamate, Glutamine, GABA metabolite concentration change with treatment

Inclusion Criteria: DSM-IV Schizophrenia 1 or more items of Negative symptom score in PANSS > 5 Exclusion Criteria: presences of neurological disorder or history IQ < 70 presence of severe personality disorders presence of substance use disorder (except nicotin) pregnancy presence of severe medical condition or disorders