Measuring Time Windows in Patients With Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls

University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

Status: Completed

Conditions: Schizophrenia

Treatments: Procedure: EEG

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00350805

3494

Details and patient eligibility

About

Abnormalities in the ability to distinguish events in time may have a great impact on everyday life. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the magnitude of the temporal windows in schizophrenia, i.e. the time interval during which two events are perceived as synchronous. The investigators test the hypothesis that these temporal windows are enlarged, and check the relationship between this impairment and disorganization symptoms, in order to explore the link between this cognitive impairment and clinical symptoms. They explore also the neurobiological bases of the impairment by means of electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. Event-related potentials (N50) will reveal whether or not the coding of the stimuli has the same temporal characteristics in patients and controls. The distribution and amplitude of oscillatory activities will be analyzed as a function of the synchronous or asynchronous response of the subject, thus allowing to explore the links between synchrony perception and neuronal synchronization phenomena.

Enrollment: 126 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 50 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with schizophrenia (DSM-IV criteria)
• Healthy controls matched with patients on age, sex and education level
• Age between 18 and 50
• Informed consent signed
• No severe somatic illness
• No invalidating sensory disease
• No drug abuse, as defined by DSM-IV criteria
• No general anesthesia in the past 3 months
• No intake of drug affecting the CNS, except for patients

Trial design

126 participants in 2 patient groups

Healthy volunteers

Treatment:

Procedure: EEG

Patients

Treatment:

Procedure: EEG