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Effects of Acute Nicotine Treatment on Neuroplasticity and Memory in Patients With Schizophrenia

NCT01465074 · Status: TERMINATED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 20

Last updated 2013-08-13

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Patients with schizophrenia display cognitive impairments, such as reduced attention and problems with memory. Available medications for schizophrenia poorly alleviate memory problems however, research indicates that nicotine improves memory. In order for there to be memories formed, there has to be changes (neuroplasticity changes) in how the brain cells communicate. One way to induce such changes is by using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) combined with peripheral nerve stimulation in a Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS) paradigm. The investigators laboratory has developed a novel method that measures memory-like brain changes using electroencephalography (EEG), TMS and PAS. The present study will use this novel method to evaluate the effects of acute nicotine gum (4mg) and placebo (regular) gum on memory and memory-like brain changes in schizophrenia and healthy controls. The hypothesis is that nicotine will improve memory and facilitate neuroplasticity changes in the prefrontal cortex of patients with schizophrenia to a larger extent than in healthy controls.

Conditions

Interventions

DRUG

Nicotine polacrilex

4 mg

DRUG

Regular chewing gum; Dentyne Ice, Wrigely´s Mint Gum

30 min chewing, one dose

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Tony P George, M.D. · Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Schizophrenia Program, Toronto, ON, Canada

  • Jeff Z Daskalakis, M.D., Ph.D. · Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Brain Stimulation Lab, Toronto, ON, Canada

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
55 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2011-11-30
Primary Completion
2013-04-30
Completion
2013-04-30

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT01465074 on ClinicalTrials.gov