Exploration of Neural Bases in Social Cognition

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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An impairment in social cognition in schizophrenia could account for the severe professional and social difficulties among patients. Social cognition is the way the social world is understood, perceived and interpreted. It includes all the process than enable oneself to interact with another person, namely emotion perception and processing, theory of mind (ToM), social perception, social knowledge and attributional style. Since these process are interconnected, social cognition should be investigated through ecological tasks which activate all of them together. Developing a social cognition ecological task, then testing the reproducibility of the functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI) BOLD signal is the main objective of this study. The secondary objective is to seek a functional deficit among the neural network of social cognition in patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy subjects. Forty healthy subjects, aged from 18 to 60 years old, who have given a written consent, will be included. The social cognition paradigm will be developed and the fMRI activations will be compared to those of a visual cartoon based task, known to turn on the neural network of ToM. BOLD signal variations at a high statistical correction ratio (p<0.05) will be explored and compared to the signal of a second fMRI, made on the same 20 healthy subjects one month later, to test reproducibility (% of identical activated voxels during the 2 fMRI, p<0.05). Twenty matched patients with schizophrenia (DSM-IV-R), aged from 18 to 60 will be included to test the secondary objective. We make the hypothesis of a fMRI functional alteration in the cerebral network involved in social cognition, especially in the medial prefrontal cortex, among patients compared with healthy subjects.

Detailed Description
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Social cognition neural basis. Impairment of the social brain in schizophrenia

Official Title
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Exploration of Neural Bases in Social Cognition

Conditions
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Interpersonal Relations, Schizophrenia, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Functional

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: fMRI social cognition task


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Subjects aged from 18 to 60 years old who have signed a consent and, if there is one, whose legal representant has signed a consent 1)For healthy subjects: without any psychiatric affection (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) 2)For patients meeting the DSM-IV-R criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder Exclusion Criteria: pregnant woman neurological affection medical objection to Magnetic Resonance Imagery (MRI)

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 60 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Other: Patients with schizophrenia<br>Twenty patients suffering from schizophrenia (DSM-IV-R), with medication and medical care. No recent relapse of the psychotic disease, nor change in medications. No neurological comorbidity. After anatomic scans, each subject will go through the fMRI social cognition task. | Other: fMRI social cognition task<br>* fMRI social cognition task : each subject will go through 3 runs of a fMRI paradigm, first one verbal then two visual runs, which are meant to activate the theory of mind network.<br>* Other names: Philips 3 Tesla fMRI;|
| Other: Healthy subjects<br>Twenty healthy subjects (no mental or neurological disease) After anatomic scans, each subject will go through the fMRI social cognition task. | Other: fMRI social cognition task<br>* fMRI social cognition task : each subject will go through 3 runs of a fMRI paradigm, first one verbal then two visual runs, which are meant to activate the theory of mind network.<br>* Other names: Philips 3 Tesla fMRI;|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Developing a social cognition ecological task, then testing the reproducibility of the functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI) BOLD signal | The social cognition paradigm will be developed and the fMRI activations will be compared to those of a visual cartoon based task, known to turn on the neural network of ToM. BOLD signal variations at a high statistical correction ratio (p<0.05) will be explored and compared to the signal of a second fMRI, made on the same 20 healthy subjects one month later, to test reproducibility (% of identical activated voxels during the 2 fMRI, p<0.05) | Day 1 for individual analysis. Up to 24 months for group analysis. | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Identifying a functional deficit among the neural network of social cognition in patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy subjects. | Using the previous social cognition ecological task, BOLD signal variations at a high statistical correction ratio (p<0.05) of 20 patients with schizophrenia will be compared to those of 20 matched healthy subjects. | Day 1 for individual analysis. Up to 24 months for group analysis. | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Ecological task, fMRI, Schizophrenia, Social Cognition