Schizophrenia clinical trials at UCSF
10 in progress, 7 open to new patients

In this study, investigators will examine the behavioral effects and neurophysiological mechanisms of the pro-social neuropeptide oxytocin in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia. Such research is a necessary first step towards identifying whether intranasal oxytocin administration can serve as an adjunct treatment for social impairments in schizophrenia. Aim 1: To quantify the effects of exogenous oxytocin on social cognition and behavior in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia. Hypothesis A: Patients and healthy comparison subjects will show enhanced social cognition (e.g., improved interpretation of paralinguistic and emotional cues, such as those involved in emotional or sarcastic communication) after administration of oxytocin versus placebo. Hypothesis B: Patients and healthy comparison subjects will show increased attention to others' eyes and patients will exhibit increased facial affect expressivity after administration of oxytocin versus placebo. Aim 2: To examine the effects of exogenous oxytocin on PNS activity in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia. Hypothesis A: Patients and healthy comparison subjects will demonstrate increased PNS activity during social tasks after administration of oxytocin versus placebo. Hypothesis B (exploratory): Patients and healthy comparison subjects' improvements in social cognition and behavior will be predicted by the degree to which oxytocin increases their PNS activity.

This is a research study designed to examine how the psychiatric illness called schizophrenia affects brain function and thinking abilities such as attention and memory during simple computer-based tasks, and how measures of brain function are related to performance. We do this by looking at brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We compare participants' results to the activity in their brain as well as clinical measures and questionnaires also completed during this study.

The purpose of the investigators proposed study is twofold: 1) To investigate the role of the affiliative neuropeptide oxytocin in unhealthy interactions in families of patients with schizophrenia and families of patients with autism spectrum disorder, and 2) to investigate whether manipulation of this oxytocinergic system positively influences these family interactions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of reward processing dysfunctions in schizophrenia using neuroimaging techniques that capture in vivo brain functioning, such as EEG and fMRI.