Schizophrenia
Conditions
Keywords
schizophrenia, negative symptoms, cognitive deficits, synaptic plasticity
Brief summary
To explore: (a) if physical exercise (sports) combined with cognitive training leads to (superior) improvement of cognition in schizophrenia compared to sports or cognitive training alone (b) if a sports program alone or in combination with cognitive training has influence on hippocampal pathology and synaptic plasticity in schizophrenia compared to a placebo condition.
Interventions
OTHERExercise
Standard treatment and participation in the sports program (cycling) including cognitive training, 3 sessions cycling (30 min. each) per week for 3 months and 2 sessions Cogpack per week for the last 6 weeks.
OTHERTableSoccer
Standard treatment and participation in an activity without physical improvement as placebo condition (table football in groups of 4), but including cognitive training, 3 sessions (30 min. each) per week for 3 months and 2 sessions Cogpack per week for the last 6 weeks.
Sponsors
University Medical Center Goettingen
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 55 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Male and female patients with the diagnosis of schizophrenia (based on ICD-10 criteria) * Age between 18 and 55 * Verbal IQ ≥ 85 * Stable psychopathology on constant medication for 2 weeks * Informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
Patients, who are * not willing or able to participate in the sports program and cognitive training * reveal a significant worsening of psychopathology (based on an increase over 20% of the PANSS positive score) * have an organic mental disorder (such as intoxication or neurological disorders of the CNS) * suffer from instable somatic diseases * have an active substance abuse
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Hippocampal volume | after three months of exercise | Measurement of hippocampal volume before and after the exercise intervention, 3T-MRI MPRAGE-Sequence, manual and automated delineation of hippocampal borders |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal Learning Memory | after three months of exercise | Neuropsychological assessment of a working memory domain via the Verbal Learning Memory Test (German: Helmstaedter, C., Lendt, M., Lux, S., 2001. Verbaler Lern- und Merkfähigkeitstest (VLMT). Göttingen, Beltz) |
| Positive and negative symptoms | after three months of exercise | Measurement of positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia using the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale for Schizophrenia (Kay SR, Fiszbein A, Opler LA. The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 1987;13(2):261-76) |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed