Active clinical trials for "Schizophrenia"

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a component of herbal cannabis that is present in varying concentrations in cannabis extracts. CBD has been shown to produce central effects including hypnotic, anticonvulsive, anxiolytic and neuroprotective effects.The investigators hypothesize that treatment with CBD will result in: 1) Improvement evidenced by a reduction in scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia (PANSS), 2) Improvement evidenced by a reduction in the Clinical Global Impression of Severity scale (CGI); Secondary Hypothesis: 1) Greater improvement in functioning as measured on the "Patient Assessment of Own Functioning Inventory: (PAOFI) and the Quality of Life Scale (QLS) In this 2 period cross over design, subjects will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either: Order 1: CBD (Period 1) followed by placebo (Period 2) or Order 2: Placebo (Period 1) followed by CBD (Period 2) under double-blind conditions. The 2 study periods will be separated by a washout of at least 2 weeks. During each period subjects will receive study medications (CBD [total 800mg/day] or placebo) for a period of 4 weeks.

Auditory hallucinations are common (present in 60-70% of cases) and extremely debilitating. Behavioral disorders associated with them can have serious social repercussions. However, in 25% of cases the usual antipsychotic drug treatments are incompletely or totally ineffective. Fifteen subjects will be included after collection and signed their informed consent. The rTMS treatment is made of 4 sessions of 13 minutes spread over two days, at a frequency of 20 Hz and an intensity of 80% of motor threshold at rest. These constants are used to stay below the risk of occurrence of seizures, the only serious side effects identified. Furthermore the rTMS treatment is almost painless: tension headaches are the main side effects and make amends with simple analgesics. rTMS is devoid of neurocognitive effects. The LEFT stimulation site will be established through a anatomofunctional imaging before treatment (between D-7 and D0). Treatment efficacy will be evaluated daily during treatment (days 1 and 2) and during the first 2 weeks of starting treatment.

Antipsychotics are approved to treat several conditions, including Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder among others. The typical and atypical antipsychotics, derive their therapeutic benefit predominantly from the antagonism of dopamine D2 and 5-HT2A receptors. Many of these compounds are associated with common and significant adverse effects (e.g. weight gain, extrapyramidal symptoms, hyperprolactinemia, sexual dysfunction, and cardiac effects) which negatively impact on adherence. Today, antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) is a leading cause for antipsychotic discontinuation. Importantly as well, approximately 20-30% of all patients with schizophrenia do not respond adequately to an initial antipsychotic trial, and strikingly, 83% of those who go on to a second antipsychotic trial do not meet criteria for response. To-date, no RCT has been conducted to evaluate the outcomes in patients taking antipsychotics following the use of pharmacogenomic guidance of treatment selections. Therefore, the rationale for this trial is to utilize a double-blinded RCT design to evaluate and compare the clinical outcomes in participants treated with the benefit of GEN and E-GEN testing. Furthermore, this trial also intends to develop an evidence- based case for the value of GEN and E-GEN to Canadian health-care payers.

In this study, investigators will examine the behavioral effects and neurophysiological mechanisms of the pro-social neuropeptide oxytocin in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia. Such research is a necessary first step towards identifying whether intranasal oxytocin administration can serve as an adjunct treatment for social impairments in schizophrenia. Aim 1: To examine the effects of exogenous oxytocin on patterns of neural activation as measured by fMRI during a well-characterized affect-labeling task in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia and healthy comparison subjects. Hypothesis A: Patients will exhibit amygdalar hyperactivity and PNS hypo-activity when passively viewing faces, which will be normalized by administration of oxytocin. Hypothesis B: Patients will exhibit hypo-activity of the vPFC when affectively labeling faces and this hypo-activity will be normalized by oxytocin administration.

This study will determine the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics (PK) of olanzapine and samidorphan in adults with schizophrenia following 14 consecutive days of oral administration of ALKS 3831.

Psychological studies have shown that individuals tend to attribute causes of positive and negative events differently. Specifically, individuals hold an internalising or externalising bias of attribution which, in the case of particular patient groups, was found to polarize to the extreme. Such extreme attributional styles have found to have a direct impact on emotions, leading to a waning course of psychiatric disorders. This project aims to further examine the theoretical links between attributions and emotions using a transdiagnostic approach, and the effect of a 4-session process-based intervention on attributional biases.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic, severe and disabling mental disorder with unclear etiology and pathophysiology concerned with neuro-developmental,neurodegenerative abnormalities and cognitive impairmentslinked to behavioural changes.According to neurotrophic hypothesis, the changes result due to the abnormal regulation of neurotrophic factor, especially the decreased serum brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) validated by several meta-analyses. However, the regulation of nerve growth factor (NGF) in SCZ remains unclear because of the inconsistent findings from the previous clinical studies. Lurasidone is a novel antipsychotic drug approved for adult SCZ and for affective symptomatology & cognitive deficits. Principal advantages over some other second-generation antipsychotics are its highly favourable metabolic profile and once daily dosing regimen. Some of the studies indicate that risperidone, olanzapine, clozapine & aripiprazole might not alter BDNF levels, at least within 8 weeks of treatment.While other two studies with olanzapine suggest that BDNF might influence the response to monotherapy in SCZ patients.All these previous studies are non-conclusive & contradictory to each other which draw our attention for doing the research further to reach a conclusive result about the effect of olanzapine and lurasidone on neurotrophic biomarkers in SCZ.

The purpose of this study is to help people with serious mental illness get and keep the job they want by improving their thinking skills, using cognitive remediation therapy. For people with serious mental illness, the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Program is an effective approach to help people become employed. Despite its general success, still only 55% of clients find employment. Most of that success occurs in the first three months; after six months, the chances of finding competitive work are quite low. Among those who fail to find employment with IPS, cognitive dysfunction is often a significant problem. The proposed study will target IPS clients who have not found work after 3 months of employment-support services: our hypothesis is that, after three months with no success, the addition of cognitive remediation to IPS will improve employment rates (compared to those who continue to receive IPS alone). The proposed randomized controlled trial will use a single-blind study design, focused on IPS clients who are slow to (or may never) find employment success. Specifically, the proposed study will have two treatment arms: a) cognitive remediation added to continued IPS services, and b) continued IPS services alone. The study will collaborate with IPS workers at 11 Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU) clinics to identify clients who are non-responders in the first 3 months, and seek their consent to participate in the study. They will be randomized to either TAU (continuation with IPS and other standard treatments), or TAU plus cognitive remediation. The CRT will consist of computerized cognitive exercise practice, strategy coaching, and teaching coping/compensatory strategies for 12 weeks. Clients will be assessed at 3-time points: prior to the start of cognitive remediation ("baseline"), end-point (3-month), and 6 months after the endpoint evaluation. Primary outcome measures will include success at gaining a competitive job, total hours of competitive employment, and neuropsychological measures of cognition.

The majority of schizophrenia patients is impaired in hand gesture performance, which contributes to poor functional outcome and poor communication skills. The left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL) are key nodes of the gesture network, which is less active in patients with schizophrenia. Here, the investigators test single sessions of rTMS/TBS known to either enhance or inhibit local brain activity for app. 1 hour. The investigators aim to determine, which protocol may improve gesture performance in patients and healthy controls. This is a randomized, double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled single-center trial in 20 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 20 healthy controls. Gesture performance will be tested immediately after each TMS session, which are separated by 48 hours. Results of this study will inform larger interventional trials comparing 2 TMS protocols with repeated administration.

The study will be a 6-month, open-label, multiple center study in approximately 50 stable subjects diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of Risperidone and 9-OH-Risperidone following implantation of two or three, 300 mg Risperidone Implants.