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Electrophysiology and Blood Flow in Patients With Schizophrenia and Their Siblings
This study is currently recruiting participants.
Verified by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC), September 2007
Sponsored by: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Information provided by: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00001921
  Purpose

This study will explore how the brain works during memory testing in an effort to understand why some patients with schizophrenia have memory difficulties.

Patients with schizophrenia and their unaffected family members are eligible for this study. Studying family members may help identify the genes related to the memory deficit in schizophrenia. Normal volunteers will also be studied.

Normal volunteers, patients with schizophrenia, and their family members interested in participating in this study will be screened with a complete medical examination and psychiatric assessment, and performance of simple tasks. Study participants will be shown numbers on a screen and asked to recall them after a brief period. This will be done during electroencephalographic (EEG) recording, in which electrodes attached to the scalp measure the brain's electrical activity. The same test will be repeated while the patient has magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. The combined MRI and EEG testing will permit better localization of the brain's electrical activity.

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Condition
Healthy
Schizophrenia

MedlinePlus related topics: MRI Scans Schizophrenia
U.S. FDA Resources
Study Type: Observational
Official Title: Integrating EEG/MEG and fMRI: Activity Correlation Between Frontal and Temporal Lobe Structures in Schizophrenic Patients, Their Siblings and Unrelated Normal Volunteers

Further study details as provided by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC):

Estimated Enrollment: 1200
Study Start Date: September 1999
Detailed Description:

It is the aim of this study to investigate the functional activation and coupling between brain regions in normals, patients with schizophrenia and unaffected family members. We will perform electrophysiological measurements (MEG, EEG) during cognitive activation (Continuous Performance Task; Sternberg paradigm, working memory). We will focus on the investigation oscillatary brain activity as this is considered to be crucial for information processing related to neuronal integration. The measurements will be closely adapted to equivalent fMRI-measurements presented as an independent protocol (00-M-0085). The combination of both methods will help to improve activity source localization (MEG/EEG) and correlation of this activity between different parts of the brain. In addition, local activity patterns (fMRI) can be better characterized in the time domain (tonic versus phasic BOLD-activation). We will address whether cognitive activation goes along with an increase or decrease of correlation between regional brain areas. In this context, we will investigate whether this correlated activation pattern is different in schizophrenics and unaffected siblings when compared with normals. The study is integrated with the schizophrenia-sibling study (95-M-0150). Siblings of schizophrenic patients are investigated in order to achieve a better understanding of the genetic determination of schizophrenia-related pathophysiology.

  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   18 Years to 55 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes
Criteria
  • INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Controls:

  1. No psychiatric or severe chronic medical illness at the time of the study, and by history. This includes the absence of substance abuse histories, learning disabilities and all DSM IV disorders. The investigators will evaluate medical histories and medical conditions that are judged not to interfere with the study may be allowed.
  2. No use of psychotropic substances in the last 3 months.
  3. There is no upper age limit the lower age limit is 18 years.

Patients:

1) Schizophrenia, any subtype or schizoaffective disorder according to DSM IV, as detailed in protocol # 89-M-0160 ("Inpatient evaluation of neuropsychiatric inpatients", Dr. Jose Apud, principal investigator) and # 95-M-0150 ("A Longitudinal Investigation of Siblings of Schizophrenic and Manic-Depressive Patients", Dr. Daniel R. Weinberger, principal investigator).

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Controls and patients:

  1. Impaired hearing.
  2. Pregnancy (only for purpose of MRI procedures under separate protocols)
  3. Head trauma with loss of consciousness in the last year or any evidence of functional impairment due to and persisting after head trauma. Patients or healthy volunteers with a known risk from exposure to high magnetic fields (e.g. patients with pace makers) and those who have metallic implants (e.g. braces) in the head region (likely to create artifact on the MRI scans) will be excluded from participating in the fMRI studies.

Patients:

  1. Coexistence of another major mental illness at the time of the study. If the patients experienced other mental illnesses in the past (e.g. a learning disability or major depression), then this should be judged to be fully recovered.
  2. Criteria for substance abuse met in the last 6 months.
  3. Criteria for substance dependence met in the last year. If criteria for dependence were met in the past, then the duration of the disorder was less than 3 years, or not judged to have produced long-term brain changes to allow the patient to be in the study.
  4. Major concurrent medical illness likely to interfere with the acquisition of the task.
  5. Concomitant medications which could interfere with performance on the task.
  6. Presence of dyskinetic movements of the face and tongue (likely to interfere with eyeblink measures), or of gross involuntary movements of the whole body (likely to interfere with positioning in the MRI scanner).
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00001921

Contacts
Contact: Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office (800) 411-1222 prpl@mail.cc.nih.gov
Contact: TTY 1-866-411-1010

Locations
United States, Maryland
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike Recruiting
Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
Sponsors and Collaborators
  More Information

NIH Clinical Center Detailed Web Page  This link exits the ClinicalTrials.gov site

Publications:
Study ID Numbers: 990172, 99-M-0172
Study First Received: November 3, 1999
Last Updated: October 18, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00001921  
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government

Keywords provided by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC):
Functional Connectivity
Frontotemporal Interaction
Electrophysiology
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Healthy Subjects
Schizophrenia
MEG
Neuroimaging
EEG
MRI
Schizophrenia

Study placed in the following topic categories:
Schizophrenia
Mental Disorders
Psychotic Disorders
Healthy
Schizophrenia and Disorders with Psychotic Features

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on January 30, 2009