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| ID | Type | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| PC 51-16 | Other Grant/Funding Number | New Jersey Health Foundation |
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| Name | Class |
|---|---|
| University of California, Riverside | OTHER |
| Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research | OTHER |
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Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric condition that is associated with significant distress and disability. In addition to cognitive difficulties in domains such as attention, memory, and problem-solving, individuals with schizophrenia can experience visual-processing abnormalities, including impairments in visual acuity, low-contrast stimulus detection, and perceptual organization (i.e., perceiving visual information in an organized "perceptual whole"). These visual impairments are clinically significant, with research indicating that specific visual-processing alterations are significantly related to poorer performance on higher-level cognitive tasks, impaired facial emotion recognition, impaired reading ability, and worse functional outcomes. Despite such findings, very few studies have evaluated the therapeutic potential of interventions that are specifically designed to improve visual processing ("visual remediation") for individuals with schizophrenia. Thus the aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a computerized visual perceptual training program that targets low- and mid-level visual processes to improve visual, cognitive, and emotion-recognition functions in outpatients with schizophrenia through a small randomized controlled trial. The investigators will recruit up to 40 individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who are receiving treatment in Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC) Partial Hospital Program; half will be randomized to receive the computerized visual training, which will be delivered in small groups over a period of 12-14 weeks. The specific aims of this study are to collect preliminary data on: 1) the feasibility of participant recruitment and retention, and tolerability of the treatment components of the study; and 2) the efficacy of computerized visual training (VT) to improve low- and mid-level visual processes, and higher-level cognitive and social-cognitive performance. Based on preliminary data, the investigators hypothesize that the target number of participants will be successfully recruited and engaged in the VT intervention (n=16) and control condition (n=16), and that the participants who receive VT will demonstrate greater improvements on measures of low- and mid-level visual, higher-level cognitive, and social-cognitive functions compared to those who receive standard partial-hospital care without VT. The results of this initial trial will be used to inform the design and application for funding of a larger-scale investigation of visual remediation for individuals with schizophrenia.
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| Label | Type | Description | Intervention Names |
|---|---|---|---|
| visual training condition | Experimental | Participants in the visual training condition will participate in the visual training (VT) group, during which they will complete computerized visual training that targets low- and mid-level visual processes. Each group will include a maximum of 3 participants and will meet 3 times a week over a period of 12-14 weeks. |
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| control condition | No Intervention | Participants assigned to the control condition will receive standard Partial Hospital care without visual training. |
| Name | Type | Description | Arm Group Labels | Other Names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visual Training | Behavioral | The computerized visual training (VT) program that is being evaluated was developed by Aaron Seitz, who is a co-investigator on this project; it includes 1) ULTIMEYES, which targets broad-based visual functions, including low-level processes (e.g., visual acuity, contrast sensitivity), and 2) visual perceptual organization exercises, which target mid-level visual processes. Both elements of the program also involve higher-level visual functions, such as visual search and visual attention. |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| contrast sensitivity | A measure of low-contrast stimulus detection; contrast sensitivity thresholds at varying spatial frequencies will be examined. | approximately 14 weeks (baseline and post-treatment) |
| contour integration | A measure of visual perceptual organization; total number correct, adjusted for guessing, will be examined. | approximately 14 weeks (baseline and post-treatment) |
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Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
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| Name | Role | Phone | Extension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judy L. Thompson, Ph.D. | Contact | 732-235-9297 | judy.thompson@rutgers.edu | |
| Steven M. Silverstein, Ph.D. | Contact | 732-235-5149 | steven.silverstein@rutgers.edu |
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Judy L. Thompson, Ph.D. | Rutgers University | Principal Investigator |
| Facility | Status | City | State | ZIP | Country | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC) | Recruiting | Piscataway | New Jersey | 08854 | United States |
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| Type | Date | Date Unknown |
|---|---|---|
| Release | Mar 17, 2020 | |
| Reset | Mar 30, 2020 |
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| Release Date | Unrelease Date | Unrelease Date Unknown | Reset Date | MCP Release Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 2020 | Mar 30, 2020 |
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D012559 | Schizophrenia |
| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D019967 | Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders |
| D001523 | Mental Disorders |
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Half of the participants will be randomized to receive the computerized visual training, which will be delivered in small groups over a period of 12-14 weeks, and the other half will be assigned to the control condition, which consists of standard Partial Hospital care without visual training.
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All participants will be assessed on outcomes of interest by trained clinical interviewers who are blind to the treatment condition in which participants are assigned.
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