Active clinical trials for "Schizophrenia"

The purpose of this study is to compare the patient satisfaction between continued administration of previous antipsychotics versus switched administration to paliperidone ER in non-satisfied patients with previous (paliperidone)

This study will test whether transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) can be used safely in children with schizophrenia and if it can improve memory and attention span or auditory hallucinations in these children, at least temporarily. TDCS has temporarily improved memory and attention span in healthy adults and a similar method called TMS has relieved auditory hallucinations in adults with schizophrenia. For the TDCS procedure, the child sits in a chair and two soft sponge electrodes are placed on the child s forehead and held in place with a soft wrapping. One sponge electrode is placed on an arm. The electrodes are attached to a stimulator with a wire. Children with schizophrenia who meet the following criteria may be eligible for this study: Are 10 yrs or older age. Are participating in NIH protocol 03-M-0035. Are on a stable medication regimen for at least 6 months. Have problems with memory and attention span or have auditory hallucinations. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either real or sham TDCS on an inpatient or outpatient basis in 20-minute sessions daily, except weekends, for 10 days. For real TDCS, patients receive stimulation to the front of the brain. For sham stimulation, the children have electrodes placed on the forehead, but no actual stimulation is delivered. In addition to TDCS, patients have the following procedures: Checks of blood pressure, pulse and breathing rate before, during and right after each stimulation and again 8 hours later. Electrocardiogram (EKG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) before starting stimulation and after completing the 10 days of TDCS. Interviews and examinations to check for side effects of TDCS. Pen-and-paper or computer tests of learning, attention and memory. At the end of the 10 sessions, children who were in the sham TDCS group are offered the same number of sessions of active TDCS. Follow-up telephone call 1 month after the end of stimulation to see how the child is doing. 1- to 2-day outpatient visit 6 months after the stimulation. This visit includes interviews with the parent and the child, rating of the child s psychiatric symptoms, and pen-and-paper or computer tests of thinking, attention and memory.

The primary objective of this study is to compare the effect of two different antipsychotic compounds which are used in the treatment of schizophrenia (paliperidone ER and risperidone) at their target sites in two specific areas of the brain in patients with schizophrenia. A specialized X-ray known as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Imaging is used to assess the areas of the brain targeted by both compounds.

Anticholinergic antiparkinsonian agents often cause side-effects including cognitive impairment, dry mouth, and constipation while they diminish antipsychotic-induced parkinsonian symptoms. The introduction of second generation antipsychotics (SGA) brought fewer neurological side effects. However, anticholinergic coprescription rates are still as high as 12-65% in patients on SGA that are much higher than the incidence of EPS reported in clinical trials (3-20%). This apparently discrepancy is likely explained, in part, by the established tradition of routine use of this medications. Older patients are particularly sensitive to anticholinergic side-effects due to age-related changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. In this study, we will examine the safety and benefits of reducing the dose of a frequently prescribed anticholinergics, benztropine, on cognitive function, extrapyramidal symptoms, and psychotic symptoms in older subjects with a primary psychotic disorder.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate risperidone long-acting injection (an antipsychotic medication) versus oral antipsychotics in schizophrenia (psychiatric disorder with symptoms of emotional instability, detachment from reality, often with delusions and hallucinations, and withdrawal into the self) participants with a history of being poorly compliant with taking their medication.

The overall purpose of this study is to determine whether the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin is effective in the treatment of symptoms of schizophrenia. The primary hypothesis is that patients with schizophrenia receiving add-on treatment with simvastatin will improve clinically (as measured mainly by symptom severity) compared with patients receiving placebo, and that this improvement will be accompanied by concomitant reduction in peripheral inflammatory markers.

Many patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder have symptoms that persist, including hallucinations or delusions, despite adequate pharmacotherapy with antipsychotic drug. Glutamate is a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain that has been implicated in several brain diseases. NMDA antagonist drugs cause symptoms of psychosis in otherwise normal persons. It is postulated that reduced NMDA receptor mediated neurotransmission leads to an increase in synaptic glutamate. Excessive synaptic concentrations of glutamate can produce excitatory neurotoxicity. Agents which reduce excess glutamate activity are neuroprotective. This therapeutic strategy has been applied to schizophrenia through the use of compounds that reduce presynaptic release of glutamate or otherwise decrease excessive postsynaptic stimulation, including lamotrigine, memantine and a m-GLU-R2 agonist (LY354740) with the hypothesized result of a reduction in psychotic symptoms. Recently it was shown that a commonly available antibiotic (ceftriaxone) has the unique neuroprotective function of decreasing the amount of extracellular glutamate in nervous system tissue by increasing the number of glutamate transporter proteins. Our clinical experience with patients who have refractory psychosis and past Lyme disease indicates that in some patients psychosis may improve with IV ceftriaxone therapy. Whether this improvement was due to its antimicrobial or glutamate effect or a placebo effect is uncertain. In a placebo-controlled design, this study investigates the ability of ceftriaxone to decrease psychotic symptoms in patients with refractory psychotic disorders. In addition, the study will examine glutamatergic functional activity before and after treatment using brain imaging with magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

The RAP Program is conducting a research study of the antipsychotic medication Aripiprazole. This drug has been approved for treating symptoms associated with schizophrenia and is associated with fewer side effects. This study will explore how well Aripiprazole treats symptoms of early-onset psychotic disorders as well as symptoms that may indicate risk for such disorders, including unusual thoughts, suspiciousness, perceptual abnormalities, social isolation, and sudden changes in functioning.

In this study, investigators designed a double-blind randomized trial to prove a more reliable evidence to show how the treatment by using high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) can relieve negative symptoms in patients with predominant negative symptoms of schizophrenia, especially on improving participants' anhedonia condition and social cognition, through stimulating the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Participants will be divided into active and sham HD-tDCS groups equally.

The purpose of this study is to offer open label ITI-007 treatment to patients who poorly respond or poorly tolerate approved medications.