SchizophreniaPhase 1NCT01517360
Pharmacological Approach to Improve the Outcome of Social Cognition Training
A Phase 1 study testing Oxytocin and Social Cognitive Skills Training in people with Schizophrenia, run by VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
This study will evaluate whether oxytocin will facilitate the learning of social cognitive skills in schizophrenia patients who receive 12 sessions of Social Cognitive Skills Training (SCST). Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 55 years, men only
- Conditions the study is for
- Schizophrenia
- What is being tested?
- Oxytocin and Social Cognitive Skills Training
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
- How many people
- 27 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Jan 2012to Feb 2013
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 55 years
- Men only
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- Diagnosis of schizophrenia according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition
- Stable on an antipsychotic medication
- No change in antipsychotic dose of >10% during the past 3 months
Who cannot join
- Unable to provide informed consent
- History of epilepsy
- Active medical conditions that would make the study unsafe
- History of serious head injury
- History of hyponatremia
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center
Los Angeles, California, 90073
About this study
This study will evaluate whether oxytocin will facilitate the learning of social cognitive skills in schizophrenia patients who receive 12 sessions of Social Cognitive Skills Training (SCST). The primary hypothesis is that schizophrenia subjects who are treated with oxytocin will demonstrate greater improvements in a summary measure of social cognition than subjects treated with placebo over the course of SCST.
Read the detailed description
Individuals with schizophrenia often have serious deficits in their abilities to perceive and interpret socially relevant information. These deficits in social cognition can lead to misunderstanding the intentions of others and failing to interpret social signals that are important for successful social interactions. The relationship between social cognition and functioning has led our group to develop a research agenda that includes understanding the neural underpinnings of social cognitive deficits, measuring these impairments using brain-based biomarkers and clinical assessments, and enhancing our Social Cognitive Skills Training program to improve social cognition and promote recovery.
Oxytocin, which is a hormone and neurotransmitter, is believed to impact social cognition through increased orienting toward and attending to socially salient visual features. There is also evidence that oxytocinergic signaling is impaired in schizophrenia. With this research, we hope to learn whether administration of oxytocin will improve different aspects of social cognition by examining the effects of oxytocin versus placebo administered intranasally before each of 12 sessions of a social cognitive skills training program on measures of independent living, work and social functioning.
- Conditions
- Schizophrenia
- Being tested
- Oxytocin, Placebo, Social Cognitive Skills Training
- Keywords
- Schizophrenia, Social Cognition, Oxytocin
- Medical subject headings
- Schizophrenia
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
OxytocinDrug
Also called Syntocinon
Oxytocin 40 IU, intranasal inhalation
PlaceboOther
Placebo, matched to Oxytocin, intranasal inhalation
Social Cognitive Skills TrainingBehavioural
The training utilizes skill building techniques that are commonly used in psychiatric rehabilitation. These include breaking down complex social cognitive processes into their components and automating these skills through repetition and practice. The training programs will include 12 sessions and will be administered in a small group format (6-8 participants per group) twice a week for 6 weeks. Each training session will last for about 90 minutes (1 hour training and 30 minutes between drug administration and start of training).
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Placebo+Social Cognitive Skills Training | Active comparator | The training utilizes skill building techniques that are commonly used in psychiatric rehabilitation. These include breaking down complex social cognitive processes into their components and automating these skills through repetition and practice. The training programs will include 12 sessions and will be administered in a small group format (6-8 participants per group) twice a week for 6 weeks. The treatment groups will include individuals who are assigned to placebo. Each training session will last for about 90 minutes (1 hour training and 30 minutes between placebo administration and start of training). Receives: Other: Placebo; Behavioral: Social Cognitive Skills Training |
| Oxytocin+Social Cognitive Skill Training | Experimental | The training utilizes skill building techniques that are commonly used in psychiatric rehabilitation. These include breaking down complex social cognitive processes into their components and automating these skills through repetition and practice. The training programs will include 12 sessions and will be administered in a small group format (6-8 participants per group) twice a week for 6 weeks. The treatment groups will include individuals who are assigned to oxytocin. Each training session will last 90 minutes (1 hour training and 30 minutes between oxytocin administration and start of training). Receives: Drug: Oxytocin; Behavioral: Social Cognitive Skills Training |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Composite Social Cognition Score
We will assess emotion management, emotion perception, social context processing/social perception, theory of mind, attributional bias, and empathic accuracy. The primary summary measure for each test will be mean-centered and standardized to create a Z-score that will be averaged to create a single composite score for social cognition, serving as the primary outcome measure. Parallel follow-up analyses will be conducted on individual components to determine which measures are most affected by treatment. Similar secondary analyses will be employed for the event related potential (ERP) and basic cognition measures.
Measured: Baseline, 6 weeks, and 10 weeks
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted25 Jan 2012 (estimated)
- Study startJan 2012
- Primary completionFeb 2013
- Study completionFeb 2013
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (4)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for SchizophreniaStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Quadruple blind
- Who is masked
- Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 27 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
- Sponsor type
- US federal agency
- Collaborators
- National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Stephen R Marder, MD, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
- Investigators
- Stephen R Marder, MD, Principal investigator, Department of Veterans Affairs, University of California Los Angeles
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT01517360
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- Promise # 0041
- Status last verified
- Mar 2013
- First submitted
- 19 Jan 2012
- Last updated
- 29 Mar 2013
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
Publications
Marder SR, Wirshing WC, Mintz J, McKenzie J, Johnston K, Eckman TA, Lebell M, Zimmerman K, Liberman RP. Two-year outcome of social skills training and group psychotherapy for outpatients with schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 1996 Dec;153(12):1585-92. doi: 10.1176/ajp.153.12.1585.
PubMed 8942455Horan WP, Kern RS, Tripp C, Hellemann G, Wynn JK, Bell M, Marder SR, Green MF. Efficacy and specificity of social cognitive skills training for outpatients with psychotic disorders. J Psychiatr Res. 2011 Aug;45(8):1113-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.01.015. Epub 2011 Mar 4.
PubMed 21377168Heinrichs M, von Dawans B, Domes G. Oxytocin, vasopressin, and human social behavior. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2009 Oct;30(4):548-557. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2009.05.005. Epub 2009 Jun 6.
PubMed 19505497Feifel D, Macdonald K, Nguyen A, Cobb P, Warlan H, Galangue B, Minassian A, Becker O, Cooper J, Perry W, Lefebvre M, Gonzales J, Hadley A. Adjunctive intranasal oxytocin reduces symptoms in schizophrenia patients. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Oct 1;68(7):678-80. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.04.039. Epub 2010 Jul 7.
PubMed 20615494
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 29 Mar 2013. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Pharmacological Approach to Improve the Outcome of Social Cognition Training
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT01517360
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- Promise # 0041
- Conditions
- Schizophrenia
- Keywords
- Schizophrenia, Social Cognition, Oxytocin
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 27 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare SystemUS federal agency
- Collaborators
- National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders
- Study start
- Jan 2012
- Primary completion
- Feb 2013 (actual)
- Study completion
- Feb 2013 (actual)
- First posted
- 25 Jan 2012 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This study will evaluate whether oxytocin will facilitate the learning of social cognitive skills in schizophrenia patients who receive 12 sessions of Social Cognitive Skills Training (SCST). The primary hypothesis is that schizophrenia subjects who are treated with oxytocin will demonstrate greater improvements in a summary measure of social cognition than subjects treated with placebo over the course of SCST.
Detailed description
Individuals with schizophrenia often have serious deficits in their abilities to perceive and interpret socially relevant information. These deficits in social cognition can lead to misunderstanding the intentions of others and failing to interpret social signals that are important for successful social interactions. The relationship between social cognition and functioning has led our group to develop a research agenda that includes understanding the neural underpinnings of social cognitive deficits, measuring these impairments using brain-based biomarkers and clinical assessments, and enhancing our Social Cognitive Skills Training program to improve social cognition and promote recovery.
Oxytocin, which is a hormone and neurotransmitter, is believed to impact social cognition through increased orienting toward and attending to socially salient visual features. There is also evidence that oxytocinergic signaling is impaired in schizophrenia. With this research, we hope to learn whether administration of oxytocin will improve different aspects of social cognition by examining the effects of oxytocin versus placebo administered intranasally before each of 12 sessions of a social cognitive skills training program on measures of independent living, work and social functioning.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Quadruple blind (participant, care provider, investigator, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Placebo+Social Cognitive Skills Training | Active comparator | Other: Placebo, Behavioral: Social Cognitive Skills TrainingThe training utilizes skill building techniques that are commonly used in psychiatric rehabilitation. These include breaking down complex social cognitive processes into their components and automating these skills through repetition and practice. The training programs will include 12 sessions and will be administered in a small group format (6-8 participants per group) twice a week for 6 weeks. The treatment groups will include individuals who are assigned to placebo. Each training session will last for about 90 minutes (1 hour training and 30 minutes between placebo administration and start of training). |
| Oxytocin+Social Cognitive Skill Training | Experimental | Drug: Oxytocin, Behavioral: Social Cognitive Skills TrainingThe training utilizes skill building techniques that are commonly used in psychiatric rehabilitation. These include breaking down complex social cognitive processes into their components and automating these skills through repetition and practice. The training programs will include 12 sessions and will be administered in a small group format (6-8 participants per group) twice a week for 6 weeks. The treatment groups will include individuals who are assigned to oxytocin. Each training session will last 90 minutes (1 hour training and 30 minutes between oxytocin administration and start of training). |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 55 years
- Sex
- Male only
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Diagnosis of schizophrenia according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition
- Stable on an antipsychotic medication
- No change in antipsychotic dose of >10% during the past 3 months
Key exclusion criteria (5 listed)
- Unable to provide informed consent
- History of epilepsy
- Active medical conditions that would make the study unsafe
- History of serious head injury
- History of hyponatremia
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| OxytocinAlso: SyntocinonOxytocin 40 IU, intranasal inhalation | Drug | Oxytocin+Social Cognitive Skill Training |
| PlaceboPlacebo, matched to Oxytocin, intranasal inhalation | Other | Placebo+Social Cognitive Skills Training |
| Social Cognitive Skills TrainingThe training utilizes skill building techniques that are commonly used in psychiatric rehabilitation. These include breaking down complex social cognitive processes into their components and automating these skills through repetition and practice. The training programs will include 12 sessions and will be administered in a small group format (6-8 participants per group) twice a week for 6 weeks. Each training session will last for about 90 minutes (1 hour training and 30 minutes between drug administration and start of training). | Behavioural | Oxytocin+Social Cognitive Skill Training, Placebo+Social Cognitive Skills Training |
Primary outcome
Composite Social Cognition Score
Time frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, and 10 weeks
We will assess emotion management, emotion perception, social context processing/social perception, theory of mind, attributional bias, and empathic accuracy. The primary summary measure for each test will be mean-centered and standardized to create a Z-score that will be averaged to create a single composite score for social cognition, serving as the primary outcome measure. Parallel follow-up analyses will be conducted on individual components to determine which measures are most affected by treatment. Similar secondary analyses will be employed for the event related potential (ERP) and basic cognition measures.
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 29 Mar 2013.
- Background: PubMed 8942455Marder SR, Wirshing WC, Mintz J, McKenzie J, Johnston K, Eckman TA, Lebell M, Zimmerman K, Liberman RP. Two-year outcome of social skills training and group psychotherapy for outpatients with schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 1996 Dec;153(12):1585-92. doi: 10.1176/ajp.153.12.1585.
- Background: PubMed 21377168Horan WP, Kern RS, Tripp C, Hellemann G, Wynn JK, Bell M, Marder SR, Green MF. Efficacy and specificity of social cognitive skills training for outpatients with psychotic disorders. J Psychiatr Res. 2011 Aug;45(8):1113-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.01.015. Epub 2011 Mar 4.
- Background: PubMed 19505497Heinrichs M, von Dawans B, Domes G. Oxytocin, vasopressin, and human social behavior. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2009 Oct;30(4):548-557. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2009.05.005. Epub 2009 Jun 6.
- Background: PubMed 20615494Feifel D, Macdonald K, Nguyen A, Cobb P, Warlan H, Galangue B, Minassian A, Becker O, Cooper J, Perry W, Lefebvre M, Gonzales J, Hadley A. Adjunctive intranasal oxytocin reduces symptoms in schizophrenia patients. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Oct 1;68(7):678-80. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.04.039. Epub 2010 Jul 7.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Stephen R Marder, MD principal investigator
Department of Veterans Affairs, University of California Los Angeles
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A Phase 1 study testing Oxytocin and Social Cognitive Skills Training in people with Schizophrenia, run by VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 5 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 29 Mar 2013. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
What does this phase mean?
Phase 1 studies test a treatment in a small group of people for the first time or in a new way, mainly to check safety and find the right dose.
Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Composite Social Cognition Score (time frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, and 10 weeks). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT01517360, which also lists 4 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 29 Mar 2013.