Following social thinking and brain changes in people with schizophrenia over time
Compares adults with and without schizophrenia over 2 years, looking at social thinking.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Understanding Lifespan Trajectories of Social Cognition, Brain Microstructure and Iron Dysregulation in Schizophrenia
Key facts
- Where
- Innsbruck, AustriaSee 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 70 years old?
Source: NCT07856381, who can take part
Where in Austria
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology; Medical University of InnsbruckInnsbruck, AustriaTaking 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
- Medical University Innsbruck
- Trial code
- NCT07856381
- Record updated
- 2 October 2026
- Original description
This study aims to better understand how schizophrenia may affect social thinking, emotion regulation, brain function, and biological processes over time.Read full original descriptionShow less
SilverMinds - Lifespan Trajectories of Social Cognition and Iron Dysregulation in Schizophrenia
This study aims to better understand how schizophrenia may affect social thinking, emotion regulation, brain function, and biological processes over time.
Two groups will take part in the study:
1. people diagnosed with schizophrenia 2. healthy adults without schizophrenia
Participants in both groups will complete a series of behavioral tasks and questionnaires. These will assess abilities such as understanding other people, processing social information, and regulating emotions. For participants with schizophrenia, we will also assess clinical symptoms and their severity.
The study includes three assessment visits:
1. Baseline: at the beginning of the study 2. 12-month follow-up: approximately one year later 3. 24-month follow-up: approximately two years later
At all three visits, participants will complete behavioral tests and questionnaires, and blood and hair samples will be collected. These samples may help researchers investigate biological factors that are related to mental health, stress, and changes over time.
Participants will also undergo an MRI brain scan at the baseline visit and again at the 12-month follow-up.
People with schizophrenia may experience changes in thinking, emotions, social functioning, physical health, and brain function across adulthood. However, we still do not fully understand how these changes develop over time or how they differ from normal aging.
By comparing people with schizophrenia with healthy adults of different ages and following them over time, we can study possible differences in aging trajectories. This means examining whether certain abilities, symptoms, biological markers, or brain characteristics change differently with age in people with schizophrenia.
The study uses an accelerated longitudinal design. Instead of following one group of people for many decades, researchers recruit participants from different age groups and follow them for a shorter period. Combining information across these age groups can help researchers estimate longer-term patterns of change.
Inclusion: age 18-70 years at baseline; normal or corrected-to-normal vision; sufficient hearing; fluency in German; willingness and ability to understand and comply with study procedures. Participants must either be healthy adults without any mental health disorder (HC) or have a confirmed DSM-5 diagnosis of SZ; clinical stability at assessment, defined as no clinically significant change in psychopathological symptoms and no modification of pharmacotherapy for at least three months prior to study entry, as confirmed by the treating psychiatrist; full remission is not required.
Exclusion: incapacity to consent; current or lifetime history of brain surgery or epilepsy; MRI contraindications (unremovable metal parts in the upper body, active implants, claustrophobia); current or past substance abuse disorder (excluding caffeine and nicotine); pregnancy; any current or lifetime Axis I psychiatric disorder; first-degree relative with an Axis I disorder; any neurological disorder or other mental health condition; current or past use of psychotropic medication; Additional Eligibility Criteria for Cycle-Timed Neuroimaging:; To minimize hormonal confounding of emotion-regulation-related neural measures, menstruating female participants will be scanned in the early follicular phase (cycle days 1-6), requiring regular menstrual cycles (21-35 days) and a negative pregnancy test at relevant visits; Use of hormonal contraception will be recorded.