The aim of the current study is to investigate which gene-abnormalities can be related to brain deficits and symptoms associated with schizophrenia.
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
Synonym
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
- Differences in brain activity as measured with functional MRI between
siblings with various allele-variants per candidate- gene
- Differences in brain activity as measured with fMRI between siblings with
psychotic or schizotypic symptoms compared to siblings without such symptoms
- Differences in genetic profile of:
o Siblings with psychotic or schizotypic symptoms
o Siblings without psychotic or schizotypic symptoms
o A matched population of healthy controls
Secondary outcome
Brain activity as measured with functional MRI, expressed in percent signal
change.
Control variables:
- behavioural measures, expressed in reaction times (ms) and accuracy
- heart rate, expressed in beats per minute (bpm), heart rate
variability
- respiration, expressed in respiration volume per time
Background summary
Schizophrenia is associated with a number of functional brain deficits, among
which are working memory, inhibition, emotional processing, as well as deficits
in neural systems that support cognitive functioning. These deficits can be
used as biomarkers to facilitate the search of those genes or combinations of
genes involved in the development of schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a chronic disorder, affecting about 1 percent of the
population. It is now commonly accepted that schizophrenia has its origin, for
at least a part, in genetic abnormalities as siblings of patients have a 10 %
chance of developing the disorder themselves. In addition, although siblings
can perform similar to healthy controls on various tasks, their brain
activation is similar to that of schizophrenia patients.
Study objective
The aim of the current study is to investigate which gene-abnormalities can be
related to brain deficits and symptoms associated with schizophrenia.
Study design
Using functional MRI, subjects (n=260) are scanned on five different paradigms
known to yield abnormal brain activation in schizophrenia patients, being
resting-state, inhibition task, working-memory task, an emotional processing
task and associative memory task. Brain activation will be associated with the
various SNPs for a number of candidate genes as well as with clinical data.
During fMRI acquisition, heart rate and respiration will be recorded.
Study burden and risks
Scanning will take approximately 60 min in total per session for each subject.
Functional MRI is a non-invasive technique, so there is no need for special
preparation for the subject. There are no known risks associated with
functional MRI acquisition. The data are primarily used for research purposes.
However, severe abnormalities may be noticed, in which case a specialist
(radiologist) may be asked for advice, upon decision of the research team. If
the specialist confirms that medical treatment is indicated, then the subject
will be notified.
Besides financial remuneration, no immediate benefits are to be expected from
participation in this study for the subjects. In the long run, increased
understanding of the relationship between brain function, genes, and
symptomatology can contribute to diagnosis, early detection, and prediction of
treatment outcome for schizophrenia.
Heidelberglaan 100
3584 CX Utrecht
NL
Heidelberglaan 100
3584 CX Utrecht
NL
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
age between 18 and 50;specific for schizophrenia patients: DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia
Exclusion criteria
- Ferrous objects in or around the body (e.g. braces, glasses, pacemaker, metal fragments)
- Drug or alcohol abuse over a period of six months prior to the experiment
- History of closed- or open-head injury
- History of neurological illness or endocrinological dysfunction
- Claustrophobia
- Major medical history
- Chronic use of medication
- History of epilepsy
- History of epilepsy in first-degree relatives
- Incapability of giving an informed consent
- Symptoms indicative of schizophrenia (healthy controls only)
- Symptoms indicative of schizophrenia in first-degree relatives (healthy controls only)
- pregnancy
Design
Recruitment
Followed up by the following (possibly more current) registration
No registrations found.
Other (possibly less up-to-date) registrations in this register
No registrations found.
In other registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| CCMO | NL21223.041.07 |