Schizophrenia Psychosis

Cognitive impairment is well established in people with psychosis and is associated with cannabis use. The current study will investigate the neurobiological basis of cognitive change associated with 28-days of cannabis abstinence in people with psychosis and non-psychiatric controls with cannabis use. Participants will be randomized to a cannabis abstinent group or a non-abstinent control group and will undergo magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and following 28-days of abstinence. This study will help characterize the neuropathophysiological processes underlying cognitive dysfunction associated with cannabis use and its recovery which may guide the development of novel interventions for problematic cannabis use.

Schizophrenia is a long-lasting and serious mental health disorder that affects about 1% of people worldwide. It can cause symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions (called positive symptoms), confused or disorganized thinking, reduced motivation and emotional expression (negative symptoms), difficulties with memory and concentration (cognitive symptoms), and movement problems like restlessness or slowed activity. Current treatments, called antipsychotics, mainly work by blocking dopamine in the brain. These medicines are helpful for hallucinations and delusions, but they do little to improve negative or cognitive symptoms. A new medicine, Xanomeline/Trospium (XT), works differently. It targets a brain system called the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors while limiting side effects elsewhere in the body. Clinical trials have shown that XT reduces psychotic symptoms effectively and is generally well tolerated. The FDA approved XT in 2024 for adults with schizophrenia. Importantly, early results also suggest that XT may help improve thinking and memory (cognition domains), though this has not yet been studied in depth. Most schizophrenia drug studies pay little attention to long-term changes in cognition, often using only short screening tests. This study will be the first to take a deep look at cognitive function over a full year of XT treatment. It will also examine how changes in thinking skills connect with other aspects of life, such as symptom control, daily functioning, and quality of life. By making cognition a central outcome, the study responds to an urgent need in schizophrenia research: moving beyond just controlling hallucinations and delusions toward improving real-world recovery. The results could help shape future treatment strategies and support the idea that cognition should be a core treatment target in schizophrenia.

It is currently unknown what factors predict response to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp) or Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CR) among individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, thus the current trial will examine predictors of response to determine who requires the combined intervention and who might respond sufficiently to either monotherapy.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can alleviate persistent auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in schizophrenic patients, but the classical procedure with low-frequency stimulation for several weeks upon the left temporoparietal junction have shown modest therapeutic effects, and there is currently no robust predictive factor to the response of the treatment. In a previous multicentric, randomized, and double-blind controlled study, it has been demonstrated that a high-frequency rTMS over an anatomical target can rapidly affect AVHs. Moreover, an intensification of the classical procedure delivering 20-Hz rTMS over a 2-day period was used in addition to a personalized anatomical stimulation target and neuronavigation guidance. Besides the significant efficacy of the procedure, the efficacy was maximal at two weeks after the end of the treatment. In this project, the hypothesis is that the two-day cure could benefit from maintenance rTMS sessions every week for one month and then every two weeks for 3 months to provide an optimal strategy for a long-lasting AVH reduction. This has for now never been tested. Predictive factors to the response of the treatment are also investigated.

A multimodal longitudinal study in early stage psychosis patients and individuals at high risk for psychosis. Healthy controls are included for baseline comparisons. The aim is to investigate disease mechanisms of psychotic disorders, specifically focusing on the synaptic pruning hypothesis.

This project is a double blind randomized clinical trials that examines the efficacy of cerebellar non invasive stimulation for apathy improvement in patients with schizophrenia

This study is looking to determine if Lumateperone improves motivation in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders who show high levels of apathy as judged by AES-C-Apathy (Apathy Evaluation Scale - Clinician - Apathy) assessment and to examine a possible correlation between improvement in apathy scores and changes in elements of the PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) due to treatment with Lumateperone.

The goal of this clinical intervention study is to investigate the effects of exergaming on cognition and other clinical symptoms in outpatient individuals with schizophrenia. The main questions it aims to answer are: Will an exergaming intervention contribute to improved cognition and reduced clinical symptoms, as well as enhanced physical health/self-efficacy/quality of life, in individuals with schizophrenia? Will the gaming component strengthen motivation for a physically more intensive component, so that attendance will be at least as high as in comparable exercise studies despite the current study being implemented in a resource-limited, regular clinical outpatient setting? Participants will be asked to engage in two 45 minutes exergaming sessions with a designated personal trainer for 12 weeks. Results pre- and post intervention will be compared, and comparisons will also be made with a former randomized controlled trial conducted at the same site, in which the currently combined activities were investigated separately (high-intensity interval training and low-intensity video gaming), both yielding positive but different effects.