Active clinical trials for "Schizophrenia"

The proposed study aims to use a form of neuromodulation, known as transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), to improve the effectiveness of the metacognitive training (MCT) program for treatment of delusions in schizophrenia. tACS is a non-invasive brain stimulation method utilizing weak electrical currents applied to the head to influence neural firing (Antal & Paulus, 2013). Brain regions implicated in delusional thinking will be targeted in the hopes of promoting thinking patterns that will allow participants to question delusional beliefs, reducing the severity of delusions and increasing the positive effects of MCT (Whitman et al., in press; Whitman, Minz & Woodward, 2013). Electroencephalogram (EEG) and behavioural assessments will be used to measure treatment effects. However, before tACS will be administered to individuals experiencing delusions associated with schizophrenia we will conduct various control-phase (pilot) studies to gain a better understanding on how tACS temporarily alters performance on cognitive processes by biasing dominant patterns of oscillations. The objective of the pilot studies is to establish the effectiveness of the EGI GTEN system in modulating brain oscillations in the cortex of healthy participants by means of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). In this control/pilot phase of our study, we aim to establish that we can induce changes in the power of a specific frequency band in targeted cortical regions with neuromodulation using the GTEN system, and we will assess whether doing so temporarily alters performance on simple cognitive and perceptual processes in healthy controls. This will be the first step towards translating our stimulation protocol to the patient population for our primary study of interest (tACS as an adjunct to metacognitive training for delusions in psychosis).

Case-control comparison of clinical population, interventional and single-center research.

Schizophrenia is a chronic disease with deficit in social interaction and lost of autonomy in daily life. Negative symptoms as blunted affect, avolition, social deficit and anhedonia and cognition were prognosis and functioning key's factors. Psychotropic medications have shown only poor effect to improve negative symptoms and cognition as attention, memory and cognitive flexibility. So, cognitive remediation programs were developped to focus cognitive disorders. The IPT (Integrated Psychological Treatment) is one of the most complete program with modules on cognitive and social abilities. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of IPT+ program to improve autonomy capacities of long stay inpatients suffering from schizophrenia 6 at the end of the program With IPT+ this study will improve autonomy capacities for patients suffering from deficit schizophrenia and allowed patients to go out hospital earlier than before.

Tobacco smokers with schizophrenia are known to be resistant smokers, with high rates of smoking and inability to quit in the long-term, often related to smoking relapse. This may relate to problems with frontal lobe function associated with schizophrenia, which make these patients have great difficulty in dealing with smoking withdrawal, urges and cravings. The current study will develop a combination approach that takes advantage of brain stimulation of the frontal lobes (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), in combination with the anti-smoking drug varenicline, to prevent smoking lapse using a well-established human laboratory method. Results from this study may have important implications for developing novel treatment approaches for smokers with schizophrenia.

Few studies targeting obesity in serious mental illness have reported clinically significant risk reduction, and non have been replicated in community settings or demonstrated sustained outcomes after intervention withdrawal. The researchers sought to replicate positive health outcomes demonstrated in a previous randomized effectiveness study of the In SHAPE program across urban community mental health organizations serving an ethnically diverse population.

Schizophrenia is a complex, challenging, and heterogeneous psychiatric condition, affecting up to 0.5% of the population and responsible for nearly 2% of all Canadian health-care expenditure. Much of the morbidity of the illness is related to its negative symptoms, including amotivation, asociality, anhedonia and flattened emotional affect, which lead to functional impairment and withdrawal from social and occupational domains. In contrast to positive symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, there are currently no effective treatments for negative symptoms, which experts recognize are largely responsible for the long-term disability of a majority of patients with schizophrenia. Advances in neuroscience have allowed a greater understanding of negative symptoms and have identified key structures and circuits believed to generate and maintain them. Here, we propose the application of a targeted therapy, deep brain stimulation, to alter the circuits driving negative symptoms.

The current research is aimed at using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) as complementary therapeutic tool in the treatment of schizophrenia. Patients will be randomized into two groups (tDCS-active x tDCS-sham) accordingly to detailed protocol. Main outcome will be measured by specific clinical rating scales based on the assessment of negative symptoms. A total of 40 patients ought to be enrolled as specified in methodology. Secondary outcomes shall include collateral effects evaluation, anxiety and depressive scales as well as clinical monitoring.

The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention based on a program of physical activity and diet coordinated between primary care teams (PCT) and Mental Health Centres (MHC) to modify the weekly physical activity (PA) amount, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference in patients with severe mental disorder diagnoses. To assess changes in cardiovascular risk, quality of life and lifestyles, secondarily. Methods: A randomized clinical trial with a control group, of one year of follow-up, carried out in four MHC Barcelona and Santa Coloma, and PCT of reference. The investigators studied patients aged 18 - 65 years old, diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective or bipolar disorder, with antipsychotic medication and a low level of PA. 240 patients will be selected in each group (difference to be detected in the BMI:> 1.89 kg/m2; common SD: 6.2, 30% loss). Intervention: group educational PA program (basically walking) of 24 sessions over 12 weeks, and diet (8 sessions in the first 8 weeks) by nurses and specialists in PA. Key measurements: level of PA (IPAQ questionnaire), physical examinations: BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, cardiovascular risk, quality of life (SF-36), smoking habits, dietary habits (PREDIMED questionnaire), analytical parameters: cholesterol , triglycerides, blood glucose. Evaluations will be masked and conducted at 0, 3, 6 and 12 months. Analysis of variance for repeated measures to adjust for differences attributable to the effect of the intervention for potential confounders: pharmacological treatment, care level of intervention and mental state.

Onset of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, typically occurs during late adolescence or early adulthood often resulting in chronic social and occupational disability. Deficits in cognition and functional outcome often precede the onset of full-blown psychosis although to a lesser degree than observed in schizophrenia. Recent progress in risk identification methodology has enabled reliable detection of persons who appear to be putatively prodromal for psychosis, that is, at clinical high risk (CHR) of developing a psychotic disorder. Since these CHR individuals already evidence cognitive deficits, which increase around the time of conversion, cognition is an excellent treatment target. Furthermore, there is clear evidence, in schizophrenia and in CHR samples, that deficits in cognition are related to poor functional outcome. Thus, treatments targeting cognition may consequently improve functional outcome. The primary aim of the project is to reduce cognitive deterioration and improve cognition among youths at CHR using cognitive remediation and to test the effectiveness of a new cognitive remediation program, the Brain Fitness program, in improving cognition of CHR individuals. A control treatment consisting of video games (VG) will be used. The primary hypothesis is that the BF group will have improved cognition at the end of treatment and 12 months post baseline compared to the VG group. A secondary hypothesis is that improved cognition will be associated with improved functioning. This is a longitudinal, single blind, placebo controlled pilot trial of cognitive remediation in 36 CHR persons. Participants will be randomised to either the BF or VG program, which will be administered over a period of 3 months. Assessments will occur at baseline, post treatment (3 months) and at 12 months after baseline. All subjects will be recruited in year 1 of the project and treatment will be completed by 15 months. The 40 hours of training will occur 4 days a week, for an hour each day, over a period of 10 -12 weeks.

The purpose of this study is to reveal the specific effects of computer-aided cognitive training on course and rehabilitation in early onset schizophrenia