The general purpose of the present study is to test whether people with schizophrenia perform differently when assessing working-memory tasks measuring different components. A better knowledge of working memory impaiment in schizophrenia could lead…
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
Synonym
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
Reaction times and errors made while comparing the patientpopulation with the
control group.
Secondary outcome
none
Background summary
The last decades, a lot of research is done about schizophrenia, a social
disabling disease often accompanied with cognitive deficits. There is a general
consensus that working memory (Baddeley, 1986) is impaired in schizophrenic
patients (Fleming, 1997). It is often cited as a central feature of
vulnerability (Silver et al., 2003). There are a lot of studies measuring
working memory, which consists of multiple components. However, the relative
impairment of these to one another remain uncertain (Keefe, 2000).
Study objective
The general purpose of the present study is to test whether people with
schizophrenia perform differently when assessing working-memory tasks measuring
different components. A better knowledge of working memory impaiment in
schizophrenia could lead to better diagnostics and treatment.
Study design
To measure this, a 2 (Group: Patient, controls) x 2 (Task: No delay, Delay) x 2
(Modality: Verbal, Visuospatial) x 4 (Target: Same, Different, Same and
rotated, Different and rotated) design will be used. In this, the condition
Group is a natural variable, the conditions Task and Modality will be
counterbalanced. The condition Target will be randomized.
Intervention
none
Study burden and risks
The psychology-experiment will take an hour to complete. There will not be used
medical interventions. The experiment consists of 4 blocks, during which the
participant has to press yes/no behind a computer. By this, the burden and
risks of the experiment will be kept minimal.
Pater Brugmanstraat 47
6522 EH Nijmegen
Nederland
Pater Brugmanstraat 47
6522 EH Nijmegen
Nederland
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
Patiënts have to meet the ICD10 or DSMIV criteria for schizophrenia. Patiënts will have to be stable for a significant period and are receiving anti-psychotics.
Controls have to meet matching-criteria (estimated intelligence, age, gender).
Exclusion criteria
For patiënts and controls: influence by drugs other than medication (e.g. sedating drugs, sleeping medication). We try to control for the Extra Pyramidal Syndrome (EPS), which is known to slow reaction times.
Controls with a psychiatric or neurologic history of illness.
Participants with dyslexia will be excluded. The number of left-handed participants will be minimized.
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 | NL15275.091.06 |