Completed

Studies of Frontal Lobe Brain Functioning in Schizophrenia

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What is being collected

Drug Data

Collected from today forward - Prospective
Drug
Who is being recruted

Healthy Subjects

+ Schizophrenia
+ Parkinson Disease
From 18 to 90 Years

See all eligibility criteria

How is the trial designed

Cohort

Tracking disease incidence in order to identify risk factors and understand disease progression over time.
Observational
Study Start: November 1993

See protocol details

Summary

Principal SponsorNational Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Last updated: September 19, 2025
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner
Study start date: November 26, 1993Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.

The purpose of this study is to use brain imaging technology to investigate the role of the frontal lobe of the brain in the thinking of individuals with schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders and healthy volunteers. Participants in this study will undergo a positron emission tomography (PET) scan of the brain while performing neuropsychological tests. Some of the tests involve cognitive operations that depend upon the frontal cortex. Interactions between frontal lobe activation, cognitive behavior, and neuropharmacology will be assessed by measuring regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during treatment with drugs that may affect frontal lobe physiology. The purpose of this work is to investigate the role of the frontal lobe, and its connections for cognition in health and in neuropsychiatric diseases, particularly schizophrenia. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) will be measured with oxygen-15 water positron emission tomography (PET) while subjects are either at rest or are performing a variety of neuropsychological tests. Some of these tests involve cognitive operations that are posited to depend upon the frontal cortex, such as the use of working memory for abstract reasoning and problem solving, formation and maintenance of conceptual sets, set shifting, sequencing, and delayed response; others control for nonspecific sensory and motor aspects of these measurements or are contrast conditions posited to depend on other brain regions. Interactions between regional activation, cognitive behavior, and neuropharmacology will be assessed by measuring cognitively-related rCBF during treatment with drugs that may affect frontal lobe physiology. Hypotheses about the genetic determinants of these relationships will also be tested by comparing rCBF measures across individuals harboring different genotypes (detemined through protocol 95-M-0150).

Official TitleStudies of Frontal Lobe Function During Cognitive Stimulation as Measured With Oxygen-15 Water Positron Emission Tomography in Normal Subjects and Patients With Neuropsychiatric Disorders 
Principal SponsorNational Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Last updated: September 19, 2025
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Protocol

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Design Details
1039 patients to be enrolledTotal number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.
Cohort
These studies follow a group of individuals with common characteristics (such as a condition or birth year) over a specific period to study health outcomes or exposures.

How participants are selected
Participants are selected without using randomization. They may be chosen based on convenience, access, or willingness to participate. This approach is common when random selection isn’t practical.
Another way to select participants is through a probability sample, where participants are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to be included.

How information is collected
Researchers start collecting data from the present day forward, following participants over time to observe outcomes. This approach helps identify how exposures or behaviors may lead to health events in the future.Other Ways to Collect Data
Retrospective: These studies use existing medical records or past data.
Cross-sectional: These studies collect data at one single point in time.
Others: Some studies use a mix of approaches or less common designs depending on the research goal.

Eligibility

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Conditions
Criteria
Any sexBiological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.
From 18 to 90 YearsRange of ages for which participants are eligible to join.
Healthy volunteers not allowedIf individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.
Conditions
Pathology
Healthy Subjects
Schizophrenia
Parkinson Disease
Criteria
No eligibility criteria are available at this time.Please check with the study contact for more details. 
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Study Plan

Find out more about all the medication administered in this study, their detailed description and what they involve.
Treatment Groups
Study Objectives
2 intervention groups 

are designated in this study

This study does not include a placebo group 

Treatment Groups
Group I
Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder
Group II
normal volunteers
Study Objectives
Primary Objectives

ongoing

Study Centers

These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.
This study has 1 location
Suspended
National Institutes of Health Clinical CenterBethesda, United StatesSee the location
CompletedOne Study Center
Studies of Frontal Lobe Brain Functioning in Schizophrenia | PatLynk