The purpose of this study is to use brain imaging technology to investigate the role of the frontal lobe of the brain in the thinking of individuals with schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders and healthy volunteers.

Participants in this study will undergo a positron emission tomography (PET) scan of the brain while performing neuropsychological tests. Some of the tests involve cognitive operations that depend upon the frontal cortex. Interactions between frontal lobe activation, cognitive behavior, and neuropharmacology will be assessed by measuring regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during treatment with drugs that may affect frontal lobe physiology.

Condition	Treatment or Intervention
Healthy Schizophrenia	Drug: Oxygen-15 Water

Further Study Details: 

Expected Total Enrollment:  760

The purpose of this work is to investigate the role of the frontal lobe, and its connections, for cognition in health and in neuropsychiatric diseases, particularly schizophrenia. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) will be measured with oxygen-15 water positron emission tomography (PET) while subjects perform a variety of neuropsychological tests. Some of these tests involve cognitive operations that are posited to depend upon the frontal cortex, such as the use of working memory for abstract reasoning and problem solving, formation and maintenance of conceptual sets, set shifting, sequencing, and delayed response; others control for nonspecific sensory and motor aspects of these measurements or are contrast conditions posited to depend on other brain regions. Interactions between regional activation, cognitive behavior, and neuropharmacology will be assessed by measuring cognitively-related rCBF during treatment with drugs that may affect frontal lobe physiology.

Genders Eligible for Study:  Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Criteria

INCLUSION CRITERIA:
Control subjects with history of psychiatric or neurologic disorders or medical illness or surgeries that might have relevance to the investigation of brain physiology will be excluded.
Normal subjects taking medications with relevance to cerebral blood flow and metabolism will be excluded from study.
Patients with schizophrenia will be recruited from the inpatient population of the NIMH at NIH.
Patients with history of neurological illness other than those of interest to the study, or other medical illness or surgery that might have impact on the study of brain physiology, will be excluded.
Additional neuropsychiatric patients (such as those with affective disorder, Parkinson's Disease, special genetic disorders (e.g. William's Syndrome), and other neuropsychiatric disorders) will be recruited from the medical community, from NIH inpatient and outpatient services, and through the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). Such patients will be excluded from study for 1) history of psychiatric or neurologic disorders other than those under investigation, 2) medical illnesses or surgeries that might have relevance to the investigation of brain physiology, 3) current medications that are not under investigation and that have relevance to cerebral blood flow and metabolism, and 4) IQ less than 70.
All subjects will be asked to refrain from nicotine and caffeine for four hours prior to the PET scan.
In the case of female subjects of childbearing age and potential, a urine pregnancy test will be obtained within 24 hours prior to the PET scan.
Subjects will be queried for history of metal objects in the head or neck and for other contraindications as listed in the consent form and will only be studied if such history is negative.
To acclimate subjects to the testing procedure and to ensure comprehension and ability to cooperate with the study, subjects will practice all tasks, except those to which they must be naive, with equipment similar to that used during the PET scan. In particular, psychotic patients or those for whom cooperation is otherwise difficult will be further screened and acclimated with a "dry run" in the PET scanner. Subjects who are unable to cooperate will be excluded from the study.

Maryland
      National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 9000 Rockville Pike,  Bethesda,  Maryland,  20892,  United States; Recruiting

Study ID Numbers:  900014; 90-M-0014
Record last reviewed:  October 14, 2004
Last Updated:  November 23, 2004
Record first received:  November 3, 1999
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00001258
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2005-04-08