Medial-prefrontal Enhancement During Schizophrenia Systems Imaging

This longitudinal mechanistic randomized controlled trial in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and matched healthy controls (HC) examines the underlying cause of self-agency deficits in SZ and their responsiveness to navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (nrTMS) of the medial prefrontal cortex. Using a multimodal neuroimaging approach that combines structural MRI with functional magnetoencephalography imaging (MEGI) and nrTMS that is integrated with cognitive and clinical assessments, this research provides an unprecedented rigorous assessment of the neural and cognitive basis of self-agency and its modulation by nrTMS, using two distinct and validated paradigms involving speech monitoring (pitch perturbation) and reality monitoring.

Subjects will first be assessed for 1 week for diagnostic inclusion criteria and eligibility assessment. They will complete baseline assessments (i.e., cognitive, clinical and daily functioning assessments, structural MRI, and MEGI scans while they perform reality and speech monitoring tasks). After baseline assessments, 80 SZ and 80 age, gender, and education-matched HC will be randomly assigned to either active 10Hz nrTMS targeting mPFC (40HC and 40SZ) or nrTMS targeting a control posterior parietal site (40HC and 40SZ). For the parietal site, the investigators will use the same TMS protocol parameters as the active nrTMS condition. Between and within group analyses will utilize repeated measures mixed-effects models to examine durability and generalizability of behavioral, cognitive, clinical and whole-brain neural oscillatory network changes (with focus on mPFC) after neuromodulation by active nrTMS at proximal, and distal post-nrTMS time-points, compared to control nrTMS of parietal site and baseline. Whole-brain correlations will be computed between neural activity (e.g., with focus on mPFC) related to self-agency during reality and speech monitoring tasks and behavior (e.g., self-generated retrieval accuracy and corrective response magnitude), and between neural activity with cognition, clinical symptoms and daily functioning).

Inclusion criteria

All Subjects:

• Good general physical health
• English is first language
• No neurological disorder
• Meets MRI criteria
• No current alcohol or substance use disorder

Schizophrenia participants:

• Schizophrenia diagnosis of any illness duration,
• Clinical stability, defined as 12 weeks outpatient status and 4 weeks low to moderate dose of antipsychotic medication (<1000 mg. chlorpromazine equivalents), plus stable doses of all other psychotropic medications

Exclusion criteria

All Subjects:

• Implanted metallic parts of implanted electronic devices
• Pregnant or trying to become pregnant
• Any condition that would prevent the subject from giving voluntary informed consent
• Scalp wounds or infections
• Claustrophobia precluding MRI
• Ongoing seizures
• Neurological disorder