Emotional Functioning in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders and Depression

Principal Investigator: Ellen S. Herbener, PhD

Study Funded by: National Institute of Mental Health

Purpose of Study:

The overall goal of this study is to increase our understanding of the relationship between symptoms, problems with thinking and emotions, and underlying brain processes that contribute to these problems in people who have schizophrenia spectrum disorders and major depression. Symptoms vary quite markedly among individuals who have schizophrenic disorders; in this work we hope to identify what processes may be different in individuals who do experience difficulties with their emotions in contrast to those individuals who do not experience difficulties with their emotions. As changes in emotions in schizophrenia are often different from those experienced in major depression, we are also interested in seeing how these groups differ, and thus are also recruiting individuals with major depression. Finally, we recruit healthy individuals for this study to provide a comparison sample for our testing.

Procedures

For all subjects:

• All participants would be asked to complete a clinical interview about their symptoms and history of illness, as well as providing some demographic information.
• All participants would be asked to complete a battery of tests that assess cognitive performance and emotional responses.

For subjects who want to participate in the functional brain imaging studies:

• Participants who are interested, and eligible, would be asked to complete a study using functional imaging. Because the functional imaging data is influenced by psychiatric medication, we want participants to be off of medications at the time of testing. Some individuals will not be taking medication because they have only recently become ill or because they do not want to take medications. We will complete testing with these people as soon as possible after they agree to be in the study. We can provide psychiatric hospitalization for these individuals during the period of testing when they remain off of medications. Patient subjects may participate in the fMRI study as outpatients if they have not been taking medications for at least four weeks, and their treating physicians feel that they are not in immediate need of hospitalization or medication intervention. We will consult with treating physicians throughout the study.
• We use a non-invasive brain imaging method (magnetic resonance imaging) to study brain activity during different kinds of tasks. Testing requires the participant to complete cognitive and emotional tasks while lying down in the scanner as the images of the brain are acquired. Subjects will be carefully screened for this part of the study to make sure that it is safe for them to go into the scanner.
• Following completion of testing, participants and their physicians will decide on a treatment plan for the participant.

Eligibility

• Ages 18 to 65
• Individuals with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, or Major Depression, or no history of psychiatric difficulties
• Medication Status:
• Clinically stable patients who have been taking the same psychiatric medication, at the same dosage, for at least one month, OR
• Clinical patients who are currently unmedicated and willing to either enter the inpatient unit for monitoring during the testing, or whose clinical symptoms are sufficiently stable that inpatient hospitalization is not considered necessary by either the patient or their treating physician; OR
• Healthy individuals who are not taking any medications.
• No current alcohol or substance abuse or dependence, nor history of significant head injury or other illnesses that could influence cognitive functioning

Location of Testing

• Clinical interviews and tests of cognitive and emotional functioning are conducted at the Center for Cognitive Medicine (912 South Wood Street, Chicago), or your community or residential clinic in the Chicago area if permitted
• Brain imaging studies are performed at the Center for MR Research at the UIC Medical Center (1801 West Taylor Street, Chicago)

Participant Payments

Participants will be compensated for their time.

Contact

If you would like more information about this study, please contact Lindsay Termini at ltermini@psych.uic.edu, or by phone at (312) 413-1867. You can also provide information for participation in the research registry by clicking the link below.

http://ccm.psych.uic.edu/VolunteerForStudy/registry_join.aspx