The Effect of tDCS on Schizophrenia With Negative Symptoms

Clinical Trials for Neuroimaging and Electrophysiology in Schizophrenic Patients With Negative Symptoms Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

The investigators conducted a randomized controlled trial to reveal the effect of tDCS on negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and its underlying mechanism using the neuroimaging and electrophysiology.

The project will investigate the use of a novel technique, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. tDCS permit the application of an extremely weak continuous electrical current to the brain through an anode and a cathode applied on the scalp. Anodal stimulation appears to increase brain activity whereas cathodal stimulation has the opposite effect.

Using anodal and cathodal tDCS the investigators aimed to treat negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The investigators plan to apply tDCS such that it can simultaneously increased activity in the frontal brain areas and reduce activity over temporoparietal cortex, 2 areas involved in the physiopathology of the disease. Real active stimulation will be compare to a sham condition in 44 patients (22 in each group). 44 patients will be included in Seoul National University Hospital

Inclusion Criteria:

• DSM-IV Schizophrenia
• 1 or more items of Negative symptom score in PANSS > 5

Exclusion Criteria:

• presences of neurological disorder or history
• IQ < 70
• presence of severe personality disorders
• presence of substance use disorder (except nicotin)
• pregnancy
• presence of severe medical condition or disorders