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Social Cognition in Youth Who Have a First Degree Relative With Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia

Social cognition is an individual's ability to perceive, process, understand, and react to other individuals in a social situation. Social cognition is impaired in individuals with schizophrenia, including difficulty recognizing others' emotions. A promising treatment avenue for emotion recognition problems in individuals with schizophrenia is continued practice with various facial expression recognition training programs. First degree relatives of someone with schizophrenia are considered at familial high risk (FHR) for the illness, because of its high level of heritability. It is therefore critical to explore if these emotion recognition training programs could also benefit people at FHR. In this current study, the investigators aim to explore the social-cognitive profiles and their neural correlates in FHR individuals. The investigators also aim to explore the potential efficacy of an emotion recognition intervention to improve this ability in FHR individuals.

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Participation Requirements

  • Sex:

    ALL

  • Eligible Ages:

    15 to 25

Participation Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

* Between (or equal to) 15-25 years of age
* Ability to read/speak fluent English
* Diagnosis of SZ, schizoaffective disorder or schizophreniform confirmed for 1st degree relative by referring psychiatrist or two reliable informants (using the adapted FIGS questionnaire).

Exclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of mental health disorder
* Significant neurological or medical disorders that may produce cognitive impairment
* Current epilepsy or previous history of seizures
* Previous head injury with current continuing symptoms (i.e., cognitive ability, dizziness, etc.)
* Recent history of substance abuse or dependence (within past 3 months)
* MRI contraindication (e.g. metallic head implant, history of seizure, pacemaker, pregnancy, etc.)
* Current IQ \< 70 as measured by the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence Scale (WASI)

Study Location

The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada

Contact Study Team

Primary Contact

Synthia Guimond, PhD

[email protected]
6137226521
Study Sponsored By
The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
Participants Required
More Information
Study ID: NCT04681807