Schizoaffective Disorder Clinical Trials

The proposed project is based on the observation that schizophrenia is characterized by a chronic pro-inflammatory state, which contributes to the severity of a number of the clinical manifestations of the illness, including cognitive impairments, the treatment of which represents a critically important unmet therapeutic need. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to evaluate Community Reinforcement and Family Training for Early Psychosis (CRAFT-EP) for families experiencing early psychosis and substance use delivered exclusively or primarily via telehealth (video conferencing). Read Less

In this study, the investigators will examine whether a deprescription of unnecessary anticholinergic drugs (benztropine or trihexyphenidyl) can augment quality of life, functioning, and neurocognition in individuals who with schizophrenia. Individuals identified by clinical services who have unneeded prescriptions benztropine or trihexyphenidyl will be eligible for deprescription and study entry. Following a baseline evaluation and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), participants will will be randomized to either staying on their anticholinergic drugs or undergoing deprescription per routine clinical care, and will undergo follow-up evaluations across 6 months. The investigators predict that reducing and deprescribing these drug, if clinically determined to be unnecessary will will enhance functioning, neurocognition Read Less

The participants in the study will receive psychiatric treatment at the UCLA Aftercare Research Program. All participants in this 12-month RCT will receive cognitive training. Half of the patients will also be randomly assigned to the aerobic exercise and strength training condition, and the other half will be randomly assigned to the Healthy Living Group condition. The primary outcome measures are improvement in cognition and level of engagement in the in-group and at-home exercise sessions. Increases in the level of the patient's serum brain-derived neurotropic factor (specifically Mature BDNF) which causes greater brain neuroplasticity and is indicator of engagement in aerobic exercise, will be measured early in the treatment phase in order to confirm engagement of this target. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and portability of this intervention outside of academic research programs, the interventions will be provided via videoconferencing. The proposed study will incorporate additional methods to maximize participation in the exercise condition, including the use of the Moderated Online Social Therapy (MOST) platform to enhance motivation for treatment based on Self-Determination Theory principles, and a "bridging" group to help the participants generalize gains to everyday functioning. In addition, the exercise group participants will receive personally tailored text reminders to exercise. Read Less

The purpose of this research study to test a blended intervention that combines Executive Function Training with Cognitive-Behavioral Skills Training (E-CBSST). The aims include determining whether E-CBSST is feasible and increases Cognitive Behavioral Social Skills Training (CBSST) Skills Learning to a level that will lead to a clinically meaningful improvement in functioning. Read Less

This study will take place at four outpatient clinics serving adults with serious mental illness. Informed consent will be obtained from N=80 individuals with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses (DSM)-5 diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria to participate in a randomized controlled trial comparing Motivation Skills Training (MST) to a Healthy Behaviors Control (HBC) group. Eligible participants will receive a baseline assessment including sociodemographic and psychosocial assessments, measures of motivation, goal attainment, and quality of life, as well as measures of executive skills, community functioning, and psychiatric symptoms severity. Both MST and HBC will be implemented as once weekly group therapies. The treatment phase is approximately 12-14 weeks. MST will focus on motivation knowledge and self-regulation skills while HBC will focus on physical health and health-related skills. Read Less

The investigators propose to examine the effects of CSC services delivered via TH (CSC-TH) versus the standard clinic-based CSC model (CSC-SD) on engagement and outcomes in a 12-month, randomized trial. Read Less

The CLOZAPINE study is designed as a multisite study across 5 sites and is a clinical trial, involving human participants who are prospectively assigned to an intervention. The study will utilize a stringent randomized, double-blinded, parallel group clinical trial design. B2 group will serve as psychosis control with risperidone as medication control. The study is designed to evaluate effect of clozapine on the B1 participants, and the effect that will be evaluated is a biomedical outcome. The study sample will be comprised of individuals with psychosis, including 1) schizophrenia, 2) schizoaffective disorder and 3) psychotic bipolar I disorder. The investigators plan to initially screen and recruit n=524 (from both the existing B-SNIP library and newly-identified psychosis cases, \~50% each) in order to enroll n=320 (B1 and B2) into the RCT. Read Less

This is a randomized, controlled clinical trial to assess the effects of the ketogenic diet in combination with treatment as usual on brain energy metabolism and psychiatric symptoms in individuals with first episode bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder. Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about cognition in psychotic disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder). The main question it aims to answer is: Can we use magnetic stimulation to change processing speed (how quickly people can solve challenging tasks). Participants will be asked to perform cognitive tasks (problem-solving) and undergo brain scans before and after transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS is a way to non-invasively change brain activity. Forms of TMS are FDA-approved to treat depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. In this study, we will use a different form of TMS to temporarily change brain activity to observe how that changes speed in problem-solving. Read Less

To test the feasibility of studying effects of smoking cessation with varenicline on antipsychotic drug-induced neurological side effects, we propose a 12 week pilot study of smoking cessation treatment with varenicline in 10 schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder patients who are actively smoking and have pre-existing TD while receiving stable doses of antipsychotics. Subjects will be followed after a 2 week baseline period to assess changes in smoking status and neurological symptoms using standardized rating scales. The aim is to examine clinically significant effects on antipsychotic-induced neurological side effects that may warrant further investigation. Read Less