Psychosis of Childhood BorderlineALTER-EGONCT04945278
Study of Self-Recognition and Self/Other Distinction Disorders in Patients With Psychological Vulnerability
A study testing Double mirror device ALTER-EGO and EASE test in people with Psychosis of Childhood Borderline and Psychotic Disorder, run by University Hospital, Brest at 1 site in France.
Trial summary
The main objective of this study is to establish whether there are differences in self-recognition and self/other distinction in subjects with psychological vulnerability compared to healthy volunteer controls. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 15 to 25 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Psychosis of Childhood Borderline, Psychotic Disorder
- What is being tested?
- Double mirror device ALTER-EGO and EASE test
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 34 participants
- Where
- 1 siteFrance
- Study dates
- 31 May 2022to 31 Jul 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
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 15 to 25 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult
Who may be able to join
- Aged from 15 to 25 years
- Subject meeting the Ultra High Risk criteria at CAARMS and / or SPI-A
- Signature of the consent (participants and parents for minors)
- Subject affiliated to the social security scheme or benefiting from such a scheme
- Aged from 15 to 25 years
- Subject not familiar to the patient to whom it is matched
Show all 16Show fewer
- Signature of the consent (participants and parents for minors)
- Subject affiliated to the social security scheme or benefiting from such a scheme
- Exclusion Criteria for both patients and healthy volunteers:
- History of epilepsy and / or migraine (due to the epileptogenic potential of light stimuli)
- Refusal of participation of the minor even if the legal representatives want the subject to participate in the study
- Claustrophobia
- Wearing glasses
- Abnormal right and left visual acuity without contact lenses
- Distinctive signs on the face which cannot be temporarily removed
- Subject under legal protection (curators / guardianship) or deprived of liberty
Who cannot join
None listed.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
France1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
CHRU BREST Hôpital de Bohars
Bohars, 29280
LAVENNE-COLLOT, 00332 98 01 50 46, nathalie.lavenne-collot@chu-brest.fr
DISSAUX, 00336 79 38 11 16, nolwenn.dissaux@chu-brest.fr
About this study
Official title: Study of Self-Recognition and Self/Other Distinction Disorders in Patients With Psychological Vulnerability (ALTER EGO)
The main objective of this study is to establish whether there are differences in self-recognition and self/other distinction in subjects with psychological vulnerability compared to healthy volunteer controls.
Read the detailed description
This study is based on the properties of the double mirror "Alter Ego" which is a device that appears as a double-sided mirror surrounded by light diodes whose intensity can be varied. Thanks to this variation of luminosity, this special paradigm creates morphs between two real subjects seated on both sides, resulting in different faces, each morphed to a varying extent.
In this task, participants watch a double mirror in which a picture of their own face gradually transforms into the face of an unfamiliar other (self-to-other direction) or vice versa (other-to-self direction), and indicate at which point they judge the morph to look more like the target face than the starting face.
The comparison of the thresholds obtained by different individuals makes it possible to establish whether there could be differences between subjects with psychological vulnerability and healthy controls and to explore hypothetical links between self/other distinction abilities and symptoms of psychological vulnerability .
- Being tested
- Double mirror device ALTER-EGO, EASE test
- Keywords
- Mental Vulnerability, Self-recognition, Psychosis High-Risk State, Self-other Distinction, Double Mirror Paradigm, Schizophrenia
- Medical subject headings
- Psychotic Disorders, Schizophrenia
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Double mirror device ALTER-EGOOther
The patient and his matched healthy volunteer will be placed on each side of the double mirror device ALTER-EGO. Both sides will be lightened alternatively or at the same time by lights, so according to the light intensity, the subject will see himself in a mirror or the other person throw a classic window. The light intensity will vary from 0 to 100% and to 100% to 0% alternatively from each side of the mirror. At each 10% variation of one side, both patient and volunteer will have to answer that question : "who do you see more : him/her or yourself ?"
EASE testOther
The patient will have to answer the EASE test which is a specific test to detect patient with high risk of psychosis or schizophrenia
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Patients | Other | Both patients and healthy volunteers arms will undergo the double mirror test within a day.
But the patients arm will additionally respond to the EASE test. Receives: Other: Double mirror device ALTER-EGO; Other: EASE test |
| Healthy volunteers | Other | Both patients and healthy volunteers arms will undergo the double mirror test within a day. Receives: Other: Double mirror device ALTER-EGO |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Average of the three M1
Average of the three M1 thresholds obtained from the "round trip" manipulation repeated three times, the M1 threshold corresponding to the level of luminosity from which a subject begins to recognize himself when his own image gradually appears (during the passage of the condition glass in mirror condition).
Measured: Inclusion
Secondary outcomes (7)
The average of the three M2
The average of the three M2 thresholds obtained from the "round trip" manipulation repeated three times, the M2 threshold corresponding to the level of brightness from which a subject ceases to recognize himself to recognize the other (passage of the mirror mode to window mode).
Measured: Inclusion
Results to tests for early prodromal symptoms assessed by SPI-A (Schizophrenia Prediction Instrument for Adults)
- Hetero-questionnaire of SPI-A : intensity, type and frequency of symptoms : The answer "yes" to the COPER (Cognitive-Perceptive Basic Symptoms) and / or COGDIS (Cognitive Disturbances) criteria points to at risk mental state.
Measured: Inclusion
Results to tests for early prodromal symptoms assessed by PQ16 (Prodromal Questionnaire - 16)
- Self-administered questionnaire PQ16 : intensity, type and frequency of symptoms : The minimum score is 0 and maximum 16 meaning a higher state of risk.
Measured: Inclusion
Results to tests for early prodromal symptoms assessed by EASE(xamination of Anomalous Self-Experience)
- Self-experience anomalies evaluation scale : EASE, Parnas, 2003), until now not carried out as part of the routine monitoring of CEVUP (Consultation d'Evaluation de la VUlnérabilité Psychique = Psychic Vulnerability Assessment Consultation) patients : score between 0 and 57, the higher the score, the greater the risk of psychosis
Measured: Inclusion
Results to tests for later prodromal symptoms
CAARMS (Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States) and its sub-assemblies : if the patient is at risk of psychosis, the test will classify this risk into one of the three following categories : group of trait and state risk factor, group of attenuated psychotic symptoms, group of BLIPS (Brief, Limited or Intermittent Psychotic Symptoms)
Measured: Inclusion
Results to tests concerning the peculiarities of cognitive functioning (neuropsychological assessment) assessed by Wechsler scale
- Wechsler scale : neurocognitive assessment : Total intelligence quotient (between 60 and 140 approximately) Verbal comprehension index: 50 to 160 Perceptual reasoning index: 50 to 160 Working memory index: 50 to 160 Processing speed index: 50 to 160
Measured: Inclusion
Results to social functioning test:
- Alterations in social functioning at SOFAS : Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale : score theoretically between 0 and 100%. The lower the score, the worse the subject's functioning and therefore the higher the vulnerability.
Measured: Inclusion
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted30 Jun 2021
- Study start31 May 2022
- Primary completion31 Jul 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Jul 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (8)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Psychosis of Childhood BorderlineStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University Hospital, BrestThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- 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 N/A
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Prospective interventional case / control trial
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 34 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University Hospital, Brest
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Nathalie LAVENNE, Principal investigator, CHRU BREST
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04945278
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 29BRC20.0283
- Acronym
- ALTER-EGO
- Status last verified
- Mar 2026
- First submitted
- 22 Apr 2021
- Last updated
- 19 Mar 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: All collected data that underlie results in a publication
Publications
Frith CD, Corcoran R. Exploring 'theory of mind' in people with schizophrenia. Psychol Med. 1996 May;26(3):521-30. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700035601.
PubMed 8733211Fusar-Poli P, Borgwardt S, Bechdolf A, Addington J, Riecher-Rossler A, Schultze-Lutter F, Keshavan M, Wood S, Ruhrmann S, Seidman LJ, Valmaggia L, Cannon T, Velthorst E, De Haan L, Cornblatt B, Bonoldi I, Birchwood M, McGlashan T, Carpenter W, McGorry P, Klosterkotter J, McGuire P, Yung A. The psychosis high-risk state: a comprehensive state-of-the-art review. JAMA Psychiatry. 2013 Jan;70(1):107-20. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.269.
PubMed 23165428Thirioux B, Wehrmann M, Langbour N, Jaafari N, Berthoz A. Identifying Oneself with the Face of Someone Else Impairs the Egocentered Visuo-spatial Mechanisms: A New Double Mirror Paradigm to Study Self-other Distinction and Interaction. Front Psychol. 2016 Aug 25;7:1283. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01283. eCollection 2016.
PubMed 27610095Keromnes G, Motillon T, Coulon N, Berthoz A, Du Boisgueheneuc F, Wehrmann M, Martin B, Thirioux B, Bonnot O, Ridereau R, Bellissant E, Drapier D, Levoyer D, Jaafari N, Tordjman S. Self-other recognition impairments in individuals with schizophrenia: a new experimental paradigm using a double mirror. NPJ Schizophr. 2018 Nov 28;4(1):24. doi: 10.1038/s41537-018-0065-5.
PubMed 30487540Keromnes G, Chokron S, Celume MP, Berthoz A, Botbol M, Canitano R, Du Boisgueheneuc F, Jaafari N, Lavenne-Collot N, Martin B, Motillon T, Thirioux B, Scandurra V, Wehrmann M, Ghanizadeh A, Tordjman S. Exploring Self-Consciousness From Self- and Other-Image Recognition in the Mirror: Concepts and Evaluation. Front Psychol. 2019 May 7;10:719. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00719. eCollection 2019.
PubMed 31133909Uddin LQ, Davies MS, Scott AA, Zaidel E, Bookheimer SY, Iacoboni M, Dapretto M. Neural basis of self and other representation in autism: an FMRI study of self-face recognition. PLoS One. 2008;3(10):e3526. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003526. Epub 2008 Oct 29.
PubMed 18958161Ionta S, Gassert R, Blanke O. Multi-sensory and sensorimotor foundation of bodily self-consciousness - an interdisciplinary approach. Front Psychol. 2011 Dec 23;2:383. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00383. eCollection 2011.
PubMed 22207860Parnas J, Moller P, Kircher T, Thalbitzer J, Jansson L, Handest P, Zahavi D. EASE: Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience. Psychopathology. 2005 Sep-Oct;38(5):236-58. doi: 10.1159/000088441. Epub 2005 Sep 20. No abstract available.
PubMed 16179811
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 19 Mar 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Study of Self-Recognition and Self/Other Distinction Disorders in Patients With Psychological Vulnerability (ALTER EGO)
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04945278
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- ALTER-EGO / 29BRC20.0283
- Keywords
- Mental Vulnerability, Self-recognition, Psychosis High-Risk State, Self-other Distinction, Double Mirror Paradigm, Schizophrenia
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 34 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University Hospital, BrestUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 31 May 2022 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Jul 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Jul 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 30 Jun 2021 (actual)
- 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.
The main objective of this study is to establish whether there are differences in self-recognition and self/other distinction in subjects with psychological vulnerability compared to healthy volunteer controls.
Detailed description
This study is based on the properties of the double mirror "Alter Ego" which is a device that appears as a double-sided mirror surrounded by light diodes whose intensity can be varied. Thanks to this variation of luminosity, this special paradigm creates morphs between two real subjects seated on both sides, resulting in different faces, each morphed to a varying extent.
In this task, participants watch a double mirror in which a picture of their own face gradually transforms into the face of an unfamiliar other (self-to-other direction) or vice versa (other-to-self direction), and indicate at which point they judge the morph to look more like the target face than the starting face.
The comparison of the thresholds obtained by different individuals makes it possible to establish whether there could be differences between subjects with psychological vulnerability and healthy controls and to explore hypothetical links between self/other distinction abilities and symptoms of psychological vulnerability .
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Non-randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Prospective interventional case / control trial
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Patients | Other | Other: Double mirror device ALTER-EGO, Other: EASE testBoth patients and healthy volunteers arms will undergo the double mirror test within a day. But the patients arm will additionally respond to the EASE test. |
| Healthy volunteers | Other | Other: Double mirror device ALTER-EGOBoth patients and healthy volunteers arms will undergo the double mirror test within a day. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 15 to 25 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult
Key inclusion criteria (16 listed)
- Aged from 15 to 25 years
- Subject meeting the Ultra High Risk criteria at CAARMS and / or SPI-A
- Signature of the consent (participants and parents for minors)
- Subject affiliated to the social security scheme or benefiting from such a scheme
- Aged from 15 to 25 years
Key exclusion criteria (0 listed)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Double mirror device ALTER-EGOThe patient and his matched healthy volunteer will be placed on each side of the double mirror device ALTER-EGO. Both sides will be lightened alternatively or at the same time by lights, so according to the light intensity, the subject will see himself in a mirror or the other person throw a classic window. The light intensity will vary from 0 to 100% and to 100% to 0% alternatively from each side of the mirror. At each 10% variation of one side, both patient and volunteer will have to answer that question : "who do you see more : him/her or yourself ?" | Other | Healthy volunteers, Patients |
| EASE testThe patient will have to answer the EASE test which is a specific test to detect patient with high risk of psychosis or schizophrenia | Other | Patients |
Primary outcome
Average of the three M1
Time frame: Inclusion
Average of the three M1 thresholds obtained from the "round trip" manipulation repeated three times, the M1 threshold corresponding to the level of luminosity from which a subject begins to recognize himself when his own image gradually appears (during the passage of the condition glass in mirror condition).
7 secondary outcomes
The average of the three M2
Time frame: Inclusion
Results to tests for early prodromal symptoms assessed by SPI-A (Schizophrenia Prediction Instrument for Adults)
Time frame: Inclusion
Results to tests for early prodromal symptoms assessed by PQ16 (Prodromal Questionnaire - 16)
Time frame: Inclusion
Results to tests for early prodromal symptoms assessed by EASE(xamination of Anomalous Self-Experience)
Time frame: Inclusion
Results to tests for later prodromal symptoms
Time frame: Inclusion
Results to tests concerning the peculiarities of cognitive functioning (neuropsychological assessment) assessed by Wechsler scale
Time frame: Inclusion
Results to social functioning test:
Time frame: Inclusion
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 19 Mar 2026.
- Background: PubMed 8733211Frith CD, Corcoran R. Exploring 'theory of mind' in people with schizophrenia. Psychol Med. 1996 May;26(3):521-30. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700035601.
- Background: PubMed 23165428Fusar-Poli P, Borgwardt S, Bechdolf A, Addington J, Riecher-Rossler A, Schultze-Lutter F, Keshavan M, Wood S, Ruhrmann S, Seidman LJ, Valmaggia L, Cannon T, Velthorst E, De Haan L, Cornblatt B, Bonoldi I, Birchwood M, McGlashan T, Carpenter W, McGorry P, Klosterkotter J, McGuire P, Yung A. The psychosis high-risk state: a comprehensive state-of-the-art review. JAMA Psychiatry. 2013 Jan;70(1):107-20. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.269.
- Background: PubMed 27610095Thirioux B, Wehrmann M, Langbour N, Jaafari N, Berthoz A. Identifying Oneself with the Face of Someone Else Impairs the Egocentered Visuo-spatial Mechanisms: A New Double Mirror Paradigm to Study Self-other Distinction and Interaction. Front Psychol. 2016 Aug 25;7:1283. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01283. eCollection 2016.
- Background: PubMed 30487540Keromnes G, Motillon T, Coulon N, Berthoz A, Du Boisgueheneuc F, Wehrmann M, Martin B, Thirioux B, Bonnot O, Ridereau R, Bellissant E, Drapier D, Levoyer D, Jaafari N, Tordjman S. Self-other recognition impairments in individuals with schizophrenia: a new experimental paradigm using a double mirror. NPJ Schizophr. 2018 Nov 28;4(1):24. doi: 10.1038/s41537-018-0065-5.
- Background: PubMed 31133909Keromnes G, Chokron S, Celume MP, Berthoz A, Botbol M, Canitano R, Du Boisgueheneuc F, Jaafari N, Lavenne-Collot N, Martin B, Motillon T, Thirioux B, Scandurra V, Wehrmann M, Ghanizadeh A, Tordjman S. Exploring Self-Consciousness From Self- and Other-Image Recognition in the Mirror: Concepts and Evaluation. Front Psychol. 2019 May 7;10:719. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00719. eCollection 2019.
- Background: PubMed 18958161Uddin LQ, Davies MS, Scott AA, Zaidel E, Bookheimer SY, Iacoboni M, Dapretto M. Neural basis of self and other representation in autism: an FMRI study of self-face recognition. PLoS One. 2008;3(10):e3526. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003526. Epub 2008 Oct 29.
- Background: PubMed 22207860Ionta S, Gassert R, Blanke O. Multi-sensory and sensorimotor foundation of bodily self-consciousness - an interdisciplinary approach. Front Psychol. 2011 Dec 23;2:383. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00383. eCollection 2011.
- Background: PubMed 16179811Parnas J, Moller P, Kircher T, Thalbitzer J, Jansson L, Handest P, Zahavi D. EASE: Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience. Psychopathology. 2005 Sep-Oct;38(5):236-58. doi: 10.1159/000088441. Epub 2005 Sep 20. No abstract available.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. All collected data that underlie results in a publication
Related trials for Psychosis of Childhood Borderline
Recruiting
Prevalence of Dissociative Identity Disorder in At-risk Outpatient Groups Reporting Childhood Trauma.
Dissociative Disorder
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.
Nathalie LAVENNE principal investigator
CHRU BREST
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Double mirror device ALTER-EGO and EASE test in people with Psychosis of Childhood Borderline and Psychotic Disorder, run by University Hospital, Brest at 1 site in France.
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 16 inclusion and 0 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: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 19 Mar 2026. 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 France. 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.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Nathalie LAVENNE (02 98 01 50 46, nathalie.lavenne-collot@chu-brest.fr), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Average of the three M1 (time frame: Inclusion). 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 NCT04945278, which also lists 8 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 19 Mar 2026.