Brain-wave markers of empathy in people with schizophrenia
Uses brain-wave recordings to study empathy in adults with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Study of Electrophysiological Markers Related to the Cognitive and Affective Processes Behind Empathic Behaviour in Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorder
Key facts
- Where
- Nice, FranceSee the site
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 60 years old?
Source: NCT04278339, who can take part
Where in France
- Hôpital Pasteur - Service de PsychiatrieNice, FranceTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice
- Trial code
- NCT04278339
- Record updated
- 24 March 2025
- Original description
Disorders of social cognition, and empathy more specifically, are at the heart of schizophrenic pathology in that they are strongly linked to the social handicap of patients. It is therefore necessary to refine our knowledge of the cognitive and affective processes behind this empathic disorder and to identify objective and easily measurable markers (related to brain functioning collected by electroencephalography) of these processes with the subsequent aim of improving their management. It is also relevant to question the trait/status nature of these empathic disorders by studying these markers in individuals presenting more or less marked schizotypic traits and therefore more or less at risk of developing schizophrenia. Studying the possibility that empathy disorders may be part of the factors of developmental vulnerability for schizophrenia and identifying objective markers of this vulnerability could allow, in case of development of the pathology, a more rapid diagnosis and a more effective management.Read full original descriptionShow less
Study of Electrophysiological Markers Related to the Cognitive and Affective Processes Behind Empathic Behaviour in Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorder
Disorders of social cognition, and empathy more specifically, are at the heart of schizophrenic pathology in that they are strongly linked to the social handicap of patients. It is therefore necessary to refine our knowledge of the cognitive and affective processes behind this empathic disorder and to identify objective and easily measurable markers (related to brain functioning collected by electroencephalography) of these processes with the subsequent aim of improving their management. It is also relevant to question the trait/status nature of these empathic disorders by studying these markers in individuals presenting more or less marked schizotypic traits and therefore more or less at risk of developing schizophrenia. Studying the possibility that empathy disorders may be part of the factors of developmental vulnerability for schizophrenia and identifying objective markers of this vulnerability could allow, in case of development of the pathology, a more rapid diagnosis and a more effective management.
Inclusion: Common to all: good command of the French language, right-handed; Specific to patients: diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, clinical state stabilized according to the treating psychiatrist.
Exclusion: Patient-specific: significant change (according to the doctor) in treatment in the previous month, currently hospitalized; Common to all: having suffered a head injury with loss of consciousness lasting more than 5 minutes, participating in another project at the time of the present study, presenting an addiction to a toxic substance (excluding tobacco), presenting a mental retardation or neurological disorder (verified by a pre-recruitment interview and the administration of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for control subjects and on the basis of the information in the medical file for patients); Specific to controls: taking a psychoactive drug, having a mental disorder, being first-degree related to a patient with a disorder other than schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.