Restoring Spindle and Thalamocortical Efficiency in Early-Course Schizophrenia Patients Using Auditory Stimulation

Inclusion Criteria

Early-course schizophrenia (EC-SCZ):

• ages 18-40 years
• current DSM-IV defined diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizophreniform or schizoaffective disorder, not drug-induced, with no previously reported psychotic episode
• duration of ≤5 years from beginning of psychosis, defined by report of symptoms and/or history of treatment according to clinical guidelines employed in our University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) psychoses clinics in Pittsburgh
• lifetime exposure to antipsychotic medications ≤5 years

Healthy controls (HC):

• ages 18-40 years
• no lifetime history of psychiatric disorders
• no first-degree family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorder or mood disorder with psychotic features.

Exclusion Criteria

General exclusion criteria

• DSM-IV intellectual disability
• significant head injury
• medical illness affecting brain function or structure
• pregnancy or postpartum (\<6 weeks after delivery or miscarriage)
• significant neurological disorder (e.g. seizure disorder)
• inability to provide informed consent
• current or past co-morbidity for alcohol or psychoactive substance dependence
• substance abuse other than cannabis and/or alcohol within the past one year

For EC-SCZ

a) a psychotic illness with a temporal relation to substance use or head injury

For healthy controls (HC):

• difficult falling and/or staying asleep for more than half the nights of a week, on average
• diagnosis of sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome
• sleeping less than 5 hours or more than 10 hours daily, on average