Targeting Physical Health in Schizophrenia: Physical Activity Can Enhance Life
SchizophreniaSchizoaffective Disorder3 morePurpose: To develop and test the feasibility of an exercise intervention that combines group walking, activity tracking, and heart rate monitoring, and determine the effectiveness of this intervention on the physical and mental health for individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Participants: 14 individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Procedures (methods): During the baseline assessment, subjects will be provided with a Fitbit wristband and instructed how to use it. During the first group session, subjects will be taught how to use their heart rate (on the Fitbit) to determine how fast subjects should walk (to achieve the appropriate exercise dosage). Information on proper care, usage, and how to determine the appropriate heart from the watch, which will be used to guide the intensity of the walk will be provided to subjects and reviewed at each group session. For all clinic based group sessions, subjects will arrive at the STEP clinic to meet the entire group and leaders and be reminded of the heart rate (HR) that corresponds with the intensity of that group session. Next, the group will go outside and walk for 30 minutes. At the completion of 30 minutes, everyone will go back into the clinic for water and review of the walk. After the second group session of each week, subjects will receive weekly progress reports of their steps and minutes spent walking the prior week (obtained from Fitbit devices). During this session, subjects will also set individual goals for the upcoming week for both their "intensity walks" and total steps per day.
Alpha-lipoic Acid Adjunctive Therapy in Schizophrenia
SchizophreniaOxidative StressSchizophrenia is a devastating mental disorder with a prevalence of approximately 1% worldwide. While effective in reducing positive symptoms, current treatments have limited effects on cognitive and social cognition/processing deficits of schizophrenia, which are closely linked to real-world dysfunction and lack of socio-occupational integration. There is compelling evidence for impaired antioxidant defense system and inflammatory abnormalities in schizophrenia. A new therapeutic approach to the disease might well be to hinder oxidative damage, inflammation and its clinical sequelae. Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is a naturally occurring compound, synthesized in the mitochondria, that is currently approved to treat diabetic neuropathic pain. Drug repurposing is a fast, and cost-effective method that can overcome drug discovery challenges of targeting neuropsychiatric disorders. In a pilot investigation, adjunctive treatment with ALA led to robust improvement in negative and cognitive symptoms of ten patients with schizophrenia. This project aims to investigate the efficacy of ALA as a disease-modifying drug for the treatment of schizophrenia, by improving sociability and cognition, as well as to correlate patients' response with biomarkers that will shed light on the pathophysiology of this complex disease. It comprises 1) a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate efficacy of ALA to treat cognitive and negative symptoms of patients with schizophrenia and 2) an investigation of changes in biomarkers of oxidative stress in response to adjunctive treatment with ALA. The proposed study could establish a new adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia, recognize a novel pharmacological approach and help unveil the biological basis of the disease.
The Efficacy of Computerized Cognitive Remediation Therapy for Chronic Schizophrenia
SchizophreniaThe study group received antipsychotic drugs combined with Computerized Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CCRT) for 4 times/week for 45 minutes each time. The control group only received antipsychotic drugs. For a total of 12 weeks. Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and Tropomyosin-related kinase B (Trk B) genes in peripheral blood were detected in both groups before and after treatment. Clinical symptoms and executive function assessment were performed in both groups before and after treatment. The relevance of genes and their effects on downstream protein expression levels led to a molecular genetic mechanism for the efficacy of Computerized Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CCRT) .
Creating Live Interactions to Mitigate Barriers
SchizophreniaThis study is a validation study to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility and impact of a mobile psychosocial intervention to enhance social functioning in people with schizophrenia.
The Effects of tDCS on Auditory Hallucination, Insight, Neurocognitive Function and HRV in Patients...
SchizophreniaSchizoaffective Disorder6 moreThe study aimed to investigate whether transcranial direct current stimulation could modify auditory hallucination, insight, neurocognitive function, heart rate variability, psychosocial functioning and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia.
MAintain the Efficacy and Safety in Treatment of Schizophrenia After Switching to Long-acTing Injectable...
SchizophreniaAntipsychotics3 moreInterventional, multicenter, open-label, 20 weeks study To identify efficacy and safety in switching from oral aripiprazole to Abilify Maintena. To identify efficacy and safety in switching from oral atypical antipsychotics other than aripiprazole to Abilify Maintena
Study to Evaluate Efficacy and Safety of Roluperidone (MIN-101) in Adult Patients With Negative...
Negative Symptoms of SchizophreniaMIN-101C07 is a multicenter, multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of roluperidone in adult schizophrenia patients.The primary objective is to evaluate the efficacy of 2 fixed doses of roluperidone compared to placebo in improving the negative symptoms of schizophrenia over 12 weeks of double-blind treatment as measured by the change in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) Marder negative symptoms factor score (NSFS) over 12 weeks.
Trial to Evaluate the Short-term Safety & Efficacy of Brexpiprazole Monotherapy in the Treatment...
SchizophreniaTo determine the safety & efficacy of brexpiprazole monotherapy in the treatment of adolescents with schizophrenia.
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in the Treatment of First Rank Symptoms (FRS)...
Schizophrenia Patients With First Rank SymptomsFirst rank symptoms are core symptoms of schizophrenia. the investigators want to offer an integrative approach to better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the first rank symptoms and therefore, in schizophrenia, as well as the neuronal modulation mechanisms obtained by rTMS. It will be to pass a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at rest for healthy volunteers, and for patients before and after rTMS modulation, to view brain structures activated in the resting state network, and in order to study the difference of the resting-state network between healthy volunteers and people with schizophrenia, if the response to rTMS boost can be predicted by resting-state network of patients before treatment and if rTMS changes activations in the brain of patients. This will ultimately provide rTMS as a treatment of first rank symptoms.
Integrated Smoking Cessation Treatment for Smokers With Serious Mental Illness
Cigarette SmokingSchizophrenia4 moreThe overall aim of this study is to test the effect of academic detailing (i.e. provider-level educational intervention focused on evidence-based smoking cessation treatment for those with psychiatric illness) and community health worker (CHW) support on the provision and utilization of standard of care smoking cessation treatment to those with serious mental illness (SMI) and smoking cessation rates for adults with SMI who smoke.