Restoring Spindle and Thalamocortical Efficiency in Early-Course Schizophrenia Patients Using Closed-Loop Auditory Stimulation
The purpose of this research is to identify differences in brain activity during sleep between health individuals and individuals with schizophrenia, schizophreniform, or schizoaffective disorder. This study will also investigate whether tones played during deep sleep can enhance specific features of sleep and whether enhancing such features is related to an improvement in cognitive performance.
⁃ Early-course schizophrenia (EC-SCZ):
• ages 18-40 years
• current DSM-IV defined diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizophreniform or schizoaffective disorder, not drug-induced, with no previously reported psychotic episode
• duration of ≤5 years from beginning of psychosis, defined by report of symptoms and/or history of treatment according to clinical guidelines employed in our University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) psychoses clinics in Pittsburgh
• lifetime exposure to antipsychotic medications ≤5 years
⁃ Healthy controls (HC):
• ages 18-40 years
• no lifetime history of psychiatric disorders
• no first-degree family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorder or mood disorder with psychotic features.