An interventional study of Perceptual Discrimination Training and Cognitive Control Training in Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder and Cognitive Impairment, sponsored by University of Minnesota. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 79 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-03.
Sponsored by University of Minnesota · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
This study will examine brain metabolic and excitatory/inhibitory mechanisms related to cognitive and visual functioning in adults with schizophrenia and healthy control participants.
Participants will complete behavioral assessments, cognitive testing, electroencephalography, magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy assessments. After baseline assessments, participants will be randomly assigned to one of two computerized cognitive training programs: perceptual discrimination training or cognitive control training. Each training program will include approximately 10 hours of training over 2 to 6 weeks.
The study will evaluate changes in cognitive and visual task performance, EEG measures, and brain metabolite concentrations before and after cognitive training. Some participants may also complete optional extended baseline assessments before cognitive training.
Schizophrenia is associated with cognitive and visual impairments that can persist across the lifespan and are not fully addressed by current antipsychotic treatments. These impairments may be related to disruptions in brain metabolism and excitatory/inhibitory balance. This study is designed to better understand neurochemical and neurophysiological mechanisms of cognitive and visual functioning in schizophrenia and to evaluate whether these mechanisms change following cognitive training.
The study will enroll adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and demographically similar healthy control participants. Participants will complete baseline clinical assessments, cognitive and visual tasks, electroencephalography, structural magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy will be used to measure brain metabolite concentrations, including metabolites related to brain metabolism and excitatory/inhibitory function.
After baseline assessments, participants will be randomly assigned to one of two computerized cognitive training programs: perceptual discrimination training or cognitive control training. Both training programs are delivered through the BrainHQ platform and include approximately 10 hours of training over a 2- to 6-week period. Perceptual discrimination training focuses on visual stimulus discrimination, signal-to-noise resolution, and attentional control. Cognitive control training focuses on maintaining cognitive context in working memory during response selection.
After completing cognitive training, participants will return for follow-up assessments, including repeat clinical assessments, cognitive and visual tasks, EEG, MRI, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Participants may also choose to complete an optional extended baseline component with additional baseline scanning visits before cognitive training.
The primary outcomes include behavioral performance on the DPX task variant, EEG variables related to excitatory/inhibitory balance, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy measures of neurometabolite concentrations. Secondary outcomes include symptom and functioning measures such as the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule, and Global Functioning Social/Role scales.
3,563 studies on the registry are indexed under Schizophrenia; 491 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 168 is above the median of 71 across 2,944 interventional studies indexed under Schizophrenia.
Browse Schizophrenia studies →University of Minnesota is the lead sponsor of 1,216 studies on the registry; 197 are open to participants now.
Of its 136 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 95 (70%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Inclusion Criteria:
All participants (healthy control and SZ):
For people with schizophrenia (SZ):
All participants should have symptom ratings below a rating of 7 "extremely severe" on a severity scale of 1-7 on the BPRS and/or below grade 3 on longitudinal assessment defined by (as determined by the PI):
Exclusion Criteria:
Exclusion criteria for both groups are:
Implanted devices or ferromagnetic objects, current pregnancy (positive pregnancy test on day of MRI scanning or currently breast-feeding), etc. Significant movement disorders including tardive dyskinesia that could disrupt MRI and MRS recordings. Medically significant condition considered unsuitable for the current study (e.g., epilepsy, etc.)
For healthy controls, additionally:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
DSM diagnostic criteria
The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants randomized to this arm will complete computerized perceptual discrimination training. The training involves Gabor patch and other visual stimulus discrimination exercises designed to improve signal-to-noise resolution and attentional control. Participants will complete approximately 10 hours of training over 2 to 6 weeks.
Device: Perceptual Discrimination Training
Participants randomized to this arm will complete computerized cognitive control training. The training involves exercises focused on maintaining cognitive context in working memory during response selection. Participants will complete approximately 10 hours of training over 2 to 6 weeks.
Device: Cognitive Control Training
Perceptual discrimination training is a computerized cognitive training program delivered through the BrainHQ platform. Training involves Gabor patch and other visual stimulus discrimination exercises that focus on improving signal-to-noise resolution and attentional control. On each training trial, participants distinguish a target stimulus among distractor stimuli. Training difficulty adapts based on participant performance. Participants complete approximately 10 hours of training over 2 to 6 weeks.
Also known as: BrainHQ Perceptual Discrimination Training
Cognitive control training is a computerized cognitive training program delivered through the BrainHQ platform. Training involves maintaining accurate representations of cognitive context in working memory during response selection. Training difficulty adapts based on participant performance by changing the speed of stimulus presentation or working memory load. Participants complete approximately 10 hours of training over 2 to 6 weeks.
Also known as: BrainHQ Cognitive Control Training
Change in DPX Task Performance
Behavioral performance on the DPX task variant will be assessed as a measure of cognitive control. Trial-by-trial behavioral data will be used to derive observed behavioral and computational metrics of cognitive control. The DPX task variant consists of a series of pattern sequences. One pattern is designated the "A" cue followed by the "X" cue, which requires one response (AX, 60-70% of trials, e.g. respond with the left button), while other pattern sequences require a different response (AY or BX, 12-15% of trials each, or BY, 6-10% of trials, e.g. respond with the right button). Given the strong expectation that X's evoke a valid response, BX trials place demands on cognitive control via the fidelity (stability, memory) of the "B" cue representation to overcome this tendency. Unit of Measure: Mean and standard deviation for BX trial error rate
Time frame: Baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 7 months; or baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 42 months for participants completing the optional extended baseline component
Number of participants with pre/post EEG data
The final sample size (participants with resting electroencephalography before and after intervention) will be reported to facilitate future analyses of change in EEG variables, which could include phase synchrony, slope of the spectral power density indexing excitatory/inhibitory balance, and/or prefrontal/parietal theta as a measure of perceptual noise. Units of Measure: Number of participants with pre/post EEG data
Time frame: Baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 7 months; or baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 42 months for participants completing the optional extended baseline component
Number of participants with pre/post Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy data
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) will be used to measure neurometabolite concentrations, including but not limited to glutamate, GABA, glutathione, and glucose. MRS measurements will be collected from prefrontal and occipital cortex. The final sample size (participants with MRS before and after intervention) will be reported to facilitate future analyses of change in MRS variables. Units of Measure: Number of participants with pre/post MRS data
Time frame: Baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 7 months; or baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 42 months for participants completing the optional extended baseline component
Change in Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale Score
Psychiatric symptoms will be assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale.Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) items are scored between 1-7 with higher scores meaning more severe symptoms (i.e., worse outcomes). The minimum score is 24, and the maximum score is 168.
Time frame: Baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 7 months; or baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 42 months for participants completing the optional extended baseline component
Change in Positive Symptom Scores
Positive symptoms will be assessed using the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms(SAPS). Items are scored from 0 to 5, with higher scores indicating more severe symptoms and a worse outcome. Total scores range from 0 to 170.
Time frame: Baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 7 months; or baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 42 months for participants completing the optional extended baseline component
Change in Negative Symptom Scores
Negative symptoms will be assessed using the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms(SANS). Items are scored from 0 to 5, with higher scores indicating more severe symptoms and a worse outcome. Total scores range from 0 to 125.
Time frame: Baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 7 months; or baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 42 months for participants completing the optional extended baseline component
Change in World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule Score
Functioning will be assessed using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule, which assesses domains including cognition, mobility, self-care, social interaction, and social and participatory activities. The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) is scored so that higher values indicate more severe impacts of disability (i.e., a worse outcome). Each item is scored between 0-4 with a minimum score of zero and a maximum score of 48.
Time frame: Baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 7 months; or baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 42 months for participants completing the optional extended baseline component
Change in Global Functioning Role Scale Score
Real-world role functioning in work or school will be assessed using the Global Functioning Role Scale. This scale is rated from 1 to 10, with higher scores indicating better role functioning. A score of 10 represents superior functioning.
Time frame: Baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 7 months; or baseline to post-training follow-up, up to 42 months for participants completing the optional extended baseline component
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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