Protocol Number: 04-N-0151

Title:

Timing of Voluntary Movement in Patients with Schizophrenia Using EEG and Surface EMG

Number:

04-N-0151

Summary:

This study will examine and compare how the brain controls the timing of movement in healthy volunteers and in people with schizophrenia. Previous experiments have shown that when people are asked to look at a clock and report the time they first decide to make a movement, they report times later than the first brain waves associated with movement appear. When they are asked to report the time they first initiate the movement, they report times before the muscles actually begin to move. The study may help determine how the sense of willing and initiating an action is altered in schizophrenic patients, and how people may feel more or less "in control" of their movements.

Normal volunteers and patients with schizophrenia between 18 and 65 years of age may be eligible for this study. Control subjects must not have any neurological or psychological disorders, and schizophrenia patients must not have any other neurological disorders.

All participants will have a medical history, physical examination, and a test to determine their level of attention. Schizophrenia patients will be interviewed about their symptoms and complete psychiatric rating scales. In addition, all participants will undergo the following procedures:

Electric shock

Participants look at a clock on a computer screen whose hands revolves around the clock fast. While they look at the clock, they are given small, non-painful electric shocks and are asked to say when they receive the shocks, according to the clock. The shocks are repeated 40 times.

Arm movement

Participants are asked to lift their arm up off a table repeatedly, at random times, while they look at the computer clock. This exercise is repeated a total of 80 times. Of these 80 times, participants are asked 10 times in a row to say the time they first had the desire to move their arm, and then 10 times in a row the time they first felt that they were moving their arm.

Electroencephalography (EEG) and Electromyography (EMG)

Participants undergo EEG and EMG during the electric shock and arm movement experiments to measure electrical activity of the brain (EEG) and of the muscles (EMG). For EEG, electrodes (small metal discs) are placed on the scalp with a cap, paste, or glue-like substance and the brain waves are recorded. For EMG, electrodes are taped to the skin over the muscle.

Sponsoring Institute:

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Recruitment Detail

Type: Active Accrual Of New Subjects

Gender: Male & Female

Referral Letter Required: Yes

Population Exclusion(s): Children

Eligibility Criteria:

ELIGIBILITY:

Sixteen normal subjects, both male and female, between the ages of 18 and 65 will be tested.

Sixteen subjects with schizophrenia, both male and female, between the ages of 18 and 65 will be tested.

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Schizophrenic Patients:

Experimental subjects will be patients with DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia who have volunteered to participate in the clinical research unit of the Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, NIMH (See attached consent form).

All patients will have received the diagnosis of schizophrenia by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) with three psychiatrists reaching a consensus diagnosis. Patients on the clinical research unit must meet rigorous criteria in order to participate in research.

All patients will have undergone a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests, including Wide Range Achievement Test- Reading (often to be a good indicator of premorbid intelligence), a short version of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R), Wechsler Memory Scales (WMS-R), Trails A and B, tests of attention and executive function, including the continuous performance test (CPT), Wisconsin Card Sort (WISC), the N-Back test of working memory. Patients with psychiatric diseases other than schizophrenia that are not currently active and symptomatic will be included.

All patients in the study will have schizophrenia. However, at the time of testing, patients will be administered clinical rating scales (i.e., Brief Psychotic Rating Scale (BPRS), appropriate sections of the SCID and the Yale Hallucination Phenomenology Assessment (YHPA)) to determine the presence of passivity phenomena.

Normal Volunteers:

Sixteen normal controls will be included; controls will be screened in the NINDS Movement Disorders Outpatient Clinic, and will have neurological and physical examinations. They will be asked to abstain from alcohol for 24 hours before the study. All subjects participating in the studies will have a valid Clinical Center Medical Record Number.

All Subjects:

All subjects will be between the ages of 18 and 65. Subjects may be male or female.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Patients younger than 18 years old or older than 65 years old will be excluded from the study.

Patients with neurological disorders will be excluded. Patients with psychiatric disorders other than schizophrenia who are experiencing an active phase of their disorder will be excluded.

Patients with a history of significant medical disorders requiring chronic treatment with other drugs which affect the central nervous system and cannot be stopped will be excluded.

Patients not capable of giving an informed consent will be excluded

Schizophrenic Patients:

Exclusionary criteria include history of traumatic brain injury, known comorbid neurological disorders, including epilepsy, history of drug and alcohol abuse, etc.

Special Instructions: Currently Not Provided

Keywords:

Bereitschaftspotential

Timing of Volition

Somatic Passivity Phenomenon

Conscious Will

Libet's Clock

Recruitment Keywords:

Schizophrenia

Healthy Volunteer

HV

Conditions:

Schizophrenia

Investigational Drug(s):

None

Investigational Device(s):

None

Contacts:

Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office
Building 61
10 Cloister Court
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-4754
Toll Free: 1-800-411-1222
TTY: 301-594-9774 (local),1-866-411-1010 (toll free)
Fax: 301-480-9793

Electronic Mail:prpl@mail.cc.nih.gov

Citations:

Blakemore SJ, Smith J, Steel R, Johnstone CE, Frith CD. The perception of self-produced sensory stimuli in patients with auditory hallucinations and passivity experiences: evidence for a breakdown in self-monitoring. Psychol Med. 2000 Sep;30(5):1131-9. PMID: 12027049

Chapman LJ, Chapman JP. The measurement of differential deficit. J Psychiatr Res. 1978;14(1-4):303-11. PMID: 722633

Experiences of alien control in schizophrenia reflect a disorder in the central monitoring of action. Psychol Med. 1989 May;19(2):359-63. PMID: 2762440

• Questions about participating in a study, please contact the Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office, CC.
• Technical questions regarding the Clinical Center web site, please contact the Department of Networks and Applications, CC.

Search The Studies | Help | Questions |
Clinical Center Home | NIH Home

Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center (CC)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Bethesda, Maryland 20892. Last update: 10/27/2004