Conditions: Schizophrenia Schizoaffective Disorder
Keywords: Schizophrenia Memory Concentration Insulin
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 30
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
The purpose of the study is to find out how a small dose of insulin might affect memory, the ability to concentrate, and improve your daily functioning in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders. Insulin is not being used to treat diabetes in this study. The investigators propose a single dose, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of intranasal insulin in 40 subjects with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder to examine insulin's effect on cognition. The specific aims include:

1. Examine the effects of single doses of 40 IU intranasal insulin compared to placebo on cognitive functioning, including attention and memory.
2. Examine whether single dose of intranasal insulin administration will raise serum insulin level and decrease plasma glucose level

Insulin will be delivered through an air spray pump into your nose. The investigators will be comparing one dose of insulin (40 International Units) with placebo, an inactive liquid.

Detailed description:
Insulin signaling in the brain is associated with improved cognitive function in both animal and human studies. Intranasal administration of insulin, which is non-invasive and minimizes the risk of hypoglycemia, may represent a new intervention approach with the potential to improve cognition and real life functioning in this patient with schizophrenia.

Arms:
arm 1: Subjects are given a one-time, single dose of placebo intranasal spray arm 2: Subjects are given a one-time, single dose of intranasal insulin

Interventions: intervention 1: Placebo intervention 2: Insulin (Humulin)
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Placebo intervention 2: 40 IU Intranasal Insulin will be administered once

Protocol document: