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

Inclusion Criteria:

Early-course schizophrenia (EC-SCZ):

1. ages 18-40 years
2. current DSM-IV defined diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizophreniform or schizoaffective disorder, not drug-induced, with no previously reported psychotic episode
3. 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
4. lifetime exposure to antipsychotic medications ≤5 years

Healthy controls (HC):

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

Exclusion Criteria:

General exclusion criteria:

1. DSM-IV intellectual disability
2. significant head injury
3. medical illness affecting brain function or structure
4. pregnancy or postpartum (\<6 weeks after delivery or miscarriage)
5. significant neurological disorder (e.g. seizure disorder)
6. inability to provide informed consent
7. current or past co-morbidity for alcohol or psychoactive substance dependence
8. 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):

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