Conditions: Schizophrenia
Keywords: sleep memory schizophrenia eszopiclone
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Enrollment: 59
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
The investigators will test the hypothesis that the sleep medication, eszopiclone, can normalize brain activity during sleep and improve memory in patients with schizophrenia. The investigators will do this by measuring sleep and memory performance on two conditions separated by one week: taking 3 mg of eszopiclone and taking placebo. The investigators will study healthy subjects and chronic, medicated outpatients with schizophrenia.

Detailed description:
Sleep spindles, a defining oscillation of stage 2 non-rapid eye movement sleep (N2), are strongly linked to memory and IQ in healthy individuals. Schizophrenia is characterized by a spindle deficit that correlates with deficient sleep-dependent memory consolidation, symptom severity, IQ and executive function. In a small pilot study of schizophrenia patients, eszopiclone , significantly increased sleep spindles but its effect on memory was not significant. Here, in a larger double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design study, we investigated whether eszopiclone can both increase spindle density and improve memory consolidation. Chronic, medicated schizophrenia outpatients and demographically-matched healthy control participants were randomly assigned to receive either placebo first or 3mg of eszopiclone first for two consecutive nights with high density polysomnography. Placebo and eszopiclone visits were one week apart. Participants were trained on the Motor Sequence Task (MST) at bedtime of the second night of each visit and tested the following morning to probe sleep-dependent motor memory consolidation.

Arms:
arm 1: Outpatients with a Structural Clinical Interview confirmed DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia.

All participants receive two interventions: 3 mg eszopiclone and Placebo Intervention conditions are separated by 1 week. arm 2: Adult participants screened to exclude a personal history of mental illness, family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorder, and psychoactive medication use. All participants receive two interventions: 3 mg eszopiclone and Placebo Intervention conditions are separated by 1 week.

Interventions: intervention 1: eszopiclone intervention 2: placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: 3 mg of eszopiclone for two consecutive nights (Baseline Night and Experimental Night). Sleep spindle density (primary outcome) is measured for both nights. Memory consolidation (secondary outcome) is measured over Experimental Night. intervention 2: placebo capsule for two consecutive nights. (Baseline Night and Experimental Night). Sleep spindle density (primary outcome) is measured for both nights. Memory consolidation (secondary outcome) is measured over Experimental Night.

Protocol document: