NCT07003529Recruiting
Role of Inferior Colliculi in Auditory Hallucinations
Rôle Des Colliculi inférieurs Dans Les Hallucinations Auditives : étude Pilote Par Neuroimagerie
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 9 Dec 2025
Brief summary (registry, in English)
The neural basis of auditory hallucinations (AH) in patients with schizophrenia is poorly characterized. Functional imaging studies investigate either the "state" dimension (i.e., the measurement of changes in brain area activation at the precise moment of AH onset) or the "trait" dimension (i.e., the neural correlates of the propensity to hallucinate). A corollary of AH (particularly acoustic-verbal) is the activation of brain regions involved in the auditory perception of speech (auditory cortex). One theory is that patients with schizophrenia with AH may have a deficit in processing their internal speech (i.e., external attribution to internal verbal content). However, there is little clinical data on the specific role of the mesencephalic region of the inferior colliculi (IC) in the formation of these symptoms. Preliminary research has shown intense expression of dopamine D2 receptors, particularly on glutamatergic neurons in mouse ICs. Thus, ICs receive numerous inhibitory dopaminergic inputs, likely involved in signal optimization and modulation. The study authors hypothesize that AHs are the result of a defect in signal inhibition by the IC, which lose their function as perceptual filters.
- Status (registry)
- Recruiting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Enrollment
- 40 (estimated)
- First submitted
- 20 May 2025
- Start date
- 12 Sept 2025
- Primary completion date
- Sept 2026
- Lead sponsor
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes
- Diseases
- Schizophrenia
- NCT number
- NCT07003529
What you commit to
- Study type: Interventional
- Planned participants: 40
- From 12 Sept 2025 to the primary completion date, Sept 2026
- 1 site in 1 country
- Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them
Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.
Who cannot take part
Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.
Prior treatment
- Patient receiving anticholinergic therapy (biperiden-Akineton, trihexyphenidyl-Artane, tropatepine-Lepticur)
- Patient participating in an interventional study involving a drug or medical device, or a Category 1 RIPH within 3 months prior to inclusion
Other illness
- Patient with moderate to severe neurocognitive disorders, based on medical records
Other
- The patient is under safeguard of justice or state guardianship
- Contraindications to magnetic resonance imaging, including severe claustrophobia, based on clinical judgment.
- Congenital or acquired deafness
- Suicide risk, based on clinical judgment
- Patient with moderate to severe intellectual disability, based on medical records
- Person under judicial protection
- Pregnant, parturient, or breastfeeding woman
- Person unable to express consent
Who the study is looking for
- The patient must have given their free and informed consent and signed the consent form
- The patient must be a member or beneficiary of a health insurance plan
- DSM-5 diagnosis of schizophrenic disorder (based on clinical assessment and confirmed by the MINI 7.0 interview)
- Patient with a schizophrenic disorder lasting ≤ 20 years
- Patient treated in a psychiatric unit as an inpatient (in non-specialized care) or outpatient or under a mandatory ambulatory psychiatric care programme
- Clinical condition compatible with imaging based on clinical judgment
- Ability to understand, write, and read French
- Specific inclusion criteria for the group (SCZ+/HA+) • Patient with a PANSS score (question P3 regarding hallucinations) ≥ 4 (corresponds to PANSS (P3) 4, 5, 6, and 7 patients) AND having experienced hallucinations in the past 15 days.
- Specific inclusion criteria for the control group
- Patient with a PANSS score (question P3 regarding hallucinations) = 1) AND having not experienced any hallucinations in the past 15 days.
Age in the registry: 18 years to 60 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers
Sites (1)
Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.
| Site | City | Country | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHU de Nimes - Hopital Universitaire Caremeau Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | Nîmes | France | Recruiting |
This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.