Active clinical trials for "Schizophrenia"

The diagnostic announcement of a chronic disorder is an essential step in the patient's care. Recommendations specify the importance of including caregivers at the time of the announcement. In practice, caregivers are not systematically associated with the announcement of the diagnosis of schizophrenia, while the daily support of patients is provided in 75% of cases by the family. This support can lead to the exhaustion of caregivers and have repercussions on their sick loved one. This study will qualitatively describe and explore the experience of the diagnostic announcement in relatives of patients with schizophrenia. Specifically, the investigators will explore the history before the diagnosis is announced, the conditions of the announcement and the experiences of relatives as well as the impact at the personal and family-levels. This study will also explore the expectations of caregivers and avenues for reflection for announcement of schizophrenia diagnosis. The number of subjects to be included in this study is therefore set at 30. A preselection of each potential participant will be carried out by phone or in person to ensure the presence of inclusion criteria and the absence of non-inclusion criteria. The patients will also be provided with oral information about the study to allow sufficient time to reflect before inclusion. Then, the selection-inclusion-interview visit will take place visually in an intra-hospital or extra-hospital consultation structure of the Center Hospitalier Alpes-Isère. This visit will be unique and will consist of the entire protocol. It will be both a selection, inclusion and interview visit. Once the results have been analyzed, this study will provide a better understanding of the experiences of relatives of patients when the diagnosis of schizophrenia is announced, the impact of this announcement on caregivers and family relationships and the expectations of caregivers regarding this announcement. In the long term, the data collected will be add value in developing medical recommendations on consultation to announce the diagnosis of schizophrenia to relatives of patients, in order to best meet the expectations of relatives and to minimize as much as possible the harmful impact that can have such announcement.

People with schizophrenia tend to have problems with attention and concentration. Studies found that these patients are unable to block or gate out non-relevant and distracting information (e.g., noises). This may lead to brain overload. Cognitive abilities like concentration, memory, and learning may worsen. This ability to filter sensory information has been linked to a gene that affects the way nicotine acts in the brain. Patients with schizophrenia have a high rate of cigarette smoking. 60% to 90% smoke compared with 25% of the general population. It has been suggested that these patients may use nicotine to improve their ability to block out distracting information. Brain wave activity (EEG) in response to sounds has been proved useful in understanding this gating problem. The present study uses EEG measures and performance tasks to find out what a new nicotine-like treatment, which will be added to ongoing treatment medications, does to gating and cognition. It is hoped that this new treatment will improve the way in which patients process information, as this may help them in day-to-day activities.

People with schizophrenia spectrum disorders are faced with significant metacognitive impairments that include difficulties in their ability to form complex representations of the self and others. These impairments are associated with increased symptoms, impaired subjective self-experiences, and lower social functioning. As a result, interventions that enhance metacognitive capacity have been recently developed and explored. One of these interventions is Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT; Lysaker et al., 2014). MERIT is an integrative model of psychotherapy that seeks to promote holistic metacognitive capacity and consequently increase a positive sense of agency and sense of meaning in life among clients with schizophrenia. Several case studies (including in Bar-Ilan's community clinic), as well as a recent pilot study, showed increased metacognitive abilities and a decrease in symptoms following MERIT. The current study will explore both the effectiveness and the change mechanisms that underlie MERIT interventon among clients diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, via both pre- and post-measures of the intervention's outcome and session-by-session estimations of the therapeutic process. **Till now (July 2019) 34 clients have been recruited: 7 clients completed the MERIT therapy; 12 clients are receiving MERIT therapy now days; 6 clients are on the waiting list; 9 dropouts.

There is a lack of incentive approach for patients who suffer from schizophrenia yet lack the insight to accept treatment. Most existing approaches involve coercion and involuntary hospitalizations. This study will explore whether patients with poor insight and lacking in competence for treatment decisions will improve their acceptance and adherence of depot injection antipsychotic medication if a financial incentive is offered. Ethical considerations are also explored for this innovative pilot study

Patients with schizophrenia show enhanced dopamine synthesis capacity and release, an effect that can be evoked in healthy subjects by repeated amphetamine administration. Therefore for the first time the relationship between dopamine synthesis and release will be studied in healthy subjects before and after amphetamine sensitization in order to better understand adaptive mechanisms of the dopamine system.

The purpose of this study is to determine the respective roles of aging and schizophrenia in the regulation of metamemory using a sentence construction strategy. 4 groups will be necessary to comparison: Adult patients (18-45 years) Adult controls (18-45 years) Aged patients (≥ 55 years) Aged controls (≥ 55 years) The effects of age and the disease could lead to interaction in regulating metamemory. The effect of age would be aggravated by the disease.

Self-Determination Theory and motivational interviewing would be integrated to enhance the efficacy of diabetic self-management for patients with schizophrenia and Type 2 Diabetes.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of non invasive brain stimulation - NIBS - techniques (Electroconvulsivotherapy - ECT, transcranial Direct Current Stimulation - tDCS, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation - rTMS) on serum Brain Derived Neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in patients with depression and schizophrenia. Four blood samples will be collected in each participants, one before the NIBS sessions, and 3 after the completion of NIBS protocols: one immediately after the end of the NIBS sessions, a second one week after and a last one month after. Two blood samples separated by one month will also be collected in a a group of healthy volunteers.

This research focuses on disorders of motivation, responsible for a disability that patients experience daily. It is a disorder that affects behavior, especially social. Mechanisms, which result in these disorders, are poorly understood. This ignorance is responsible for the lack of effective therapy. The investigators realize this work in order to better understand the motivational deficits. The objective of the study is to characterize the cognitive mechanisms of motivational deficits in schizophrenia and depression. To answer the question posed in the research, it is planned to include 35 people with schizophrenia, 35 people with depression and 70 heathy volunteers in the Hospital of Sainte-Anne .

Patients suffering from schizophrenia who attend the communication skills program engage more deeply in therapeutic reasoning and treatment decisions. This results in stronger preferences to participate, greater perceived involvement and better long term adherence compared to patients who do not attend the training.