SCHIZOPHRENIA 1 (Disorder)CNTRACSNCT07853807
Cognitive Neurocomputational Task Reliability & Clinical Applications Consortium (CNTRACS): Study 1
A study testing Motion Perception Task, Sine Wave Speech Task and Volatility Task in people with SCHIZOPHRENIA 1 (Disorder) and Schizoaffective Disorder, run by Washington University School of Medicine at 5 sites in United States.
Trial summary
In Study 1, investigators will test the ability of each of the seven paradigms to differentiate between schizophrenia (SZ)/schizoaffective disorder (SZA) and matched healthy control subjects (HC) and to predict individual differences in clinical measures of hallucinations and delusions (as well as measures of… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 59 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- SCHIZOPHRENIA 1 (Disorder), Schizoaffective Disorder, Healthy Adult Participants
- What is being tested?
- Motion Perception Task, Sine Wave Speech Task and Volatility Task
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- How many people
- 325 participants
- Where
- 5 sitesUnited States
- Study dates
- 1 Oct 2026to 30 Jun 2031
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 59 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- General Inclusion
- age 18 to 59
- no substance disorder in past six months (confirmed with urine drug screens and breathalyzers);
- no clinically significant head injury or neurological disease. 4. Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR) score =16+.
- Group Specific Criteria: Schizophrenia/Schizoaffective Disorder (SZ):
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective;
Show all 11Show fewer
- no medication changes in prior month or anticipated in the next month or not taking medications
- outpatient or partial hospital if unmedicated
- Healthy Controls (HC):
- no Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) Psychosis or Bipolar Disorder;
- no family history of psychosis or bipolar
Who cannot join
- Healthy Controls (HC):
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) Psychosis or Bipolar Disorder diagnosis
- Family history of psychosis or bipolar
- Schizophrenia/Schizoaffective Disorder (SZ/SZA): additional exclusion criteria for the unmedicated individuals are:
- not in acute exacerbation requiring immediate hospitalization or treatment
- self-reported medication non-compliance for at least the four previous weeks 3)never having started medications
Trial locations and contacts
5 sites in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
5 sites in 1 country
United States5 sites, 5 recruiting
- Recruiting
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland, 21201
James Gold, MD, (410) 402-7871, jgold@som.umaryland.edu
- Recruiting
The University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, 60637
Molly Erickson, Ph.D., (773) 702-5855, merickson1@yoda.bsd.uchicago.edu
Nicole Ogbuagu, B.S., 773-795-2633, nicoleogbuagu@uchicago.edu
- Recruiting
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California, 92868
Cameron Carter, MD, 916-734-2972, cscarte1@hs.uci.edu
- Recruiting
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455
Angus Macdonald III, Ph.D., 612-624-3813, angus@umn.edu
Alyssa Zimmerman, BA, 651-558-1275, zimme857@umn.edu
- Recruiting
Washington University
St Louis, Missouri, 63108
Deanna Barch, Ph.D., 314-935-8729, dbarch@wustl.edu
Lori Ingram, 314-747-2160, ingram@wustl.edu
About this study
Official title: Cognitive Neurocomputational Task Reliability & Clinical Applications Consortium
In Study 1, investigators will test the ability of each of the seven paradigms to differentiate between schizophrenia (SZ)/schizoaffective disorder (SZA) and matched healthy control subjects (HC) and to predict individual differences in clinical measures of hallucinations and delusions (as well as measures of function). Investigators will also directly compare the tasks in terms of predictive ability and psychometric properties and determine whether the tasks share variance or explain unique variance. This will include determining whether hallucinations and delusions are best explained by separate underlying processes or by a single process. Investigators will also test whether the model-based parameters from these studies are more precise and sensitive than standard behavioral methods for assessing deficits across psychotic disorders and for predicting hallucinations and delusions (Aim 1). Investigators will also validate key model-based parameters against well-characterized neurophysiological measures using electroencephalogram (EEG) (Aim 4). The data from Study 1 will also be used to optimize (e.g., length, floor, and ceiling effects) tasks for Study 2. To generate a sample with sufficient variation in hallucinations and delusions, investigators will recruit the following groups that balance feasibility with clinical relevance: A) healthy controls (HC) [HC, N=125]; B) schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder [SZ/SZA, N=200]). For Study 1, investigators will ensure that 40 patients are unmedicated. Investigators anticipate a ~20% screen fail/drop-out rate based on our prior Cognitive Neuroscience Test Reliability and Clinical Applications for Schizophrenia Consortium (CNTRACS) studies. Thus, investigators will run an additional 40 SZ/SZA and 15 HC. All sites have experience recruiting patients in each of these groups as indicated by our past successful studies, and the fact that investigators have been able to recruit patients with significant hallucinations and delusions in all groups. Investigators will also validate key model-based parameters against well-characterized neurophysiological measures using electroencephalogram (EEG) (Aim 4). The data from Study 1 will also be used to optimize (e.g., length, floor, and ceiling effects) tasks for Study 2. To generate a sample with sufficient variation in hallucinations and delusions, investigators will recruit the following groups that balance feasibility with clinical relevance: A) healthy controls (HC) [HC, N=125]; B) schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder [SZ/SZA, N=200]). For Study 1, investigators will ensure that 40 patients are unmedicated. Investigators anticipate a ~20% screen fail/drop-out rate based on our prior Cognitive Neuroscience Test Reliability and Clinical Applications for Schizophrenia Consortium (CNTRACS) studies. Thus, investigators will run an additional 40 SZ/SZA and 15 HC. All sites have experience recruiting patients in each of these groups as indicated by our past successful studies, and the fact that investigators have been able to recruit patients with significant hallucinations and delusions in all groups.
Read the detailed description
Each participant will complete 4 sessions (~3 hours each) within 3 weeks, as in our prior studies. The first session includes clinical, self-report, proxy function, and community function assessments. Sessions 2-4 are for task and electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements. Each participant will complete 7 tasks across these sessions, while EEG is recorded. Task order will be counterbalanced across sessions. Clinical Assessment and Self-Report: A trained assessor will diagnose participants using the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-5) for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) Text Revision 59 (TR59). Clinicians will rate hallucination and delusion symptom severity with the Chicago Hallucinations Assessment Tool (CHAT) and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). Investigators will use the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS) to evaluate the degree of preoccupation, conviction, distress, and life disruption associated with hallucinations and delusions elicited on the BPRS and CHAT. To address specificity, investigators will administer the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS). For self-report, investigators will use the Beliefs about Voices Scale, which assesses attributions about the origin and power of voices, and the Yale Control Over Perceptual Experiences (COPE) scale, which evaluates the extent to which people feel they can exert control over their voices. Investigators also will use the Peters Delusion Inventory to assess the extent of delusional thinking, supplemented by the Green Paranoia Scale to provide additional coverage of persecutory beliefs. To assess specificity, investigators will use the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess depression, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) to assess anxiety, and the Motivation and Pleasure Scale-Self-Report (MAP-SR) to assess anhedonia and motivation. Investigators will conduct a principal components analysis (PCA) on measures of the same construct (e.g., delusions) and perform primary analyses using the first principal component, followed by secondary analyses of specific measures False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction. Community Function: Patients will complete the Specific Levels of Functioning (SLOF) scale, a validated scale of work and community function. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Common Data Elements: Investigators will acquire the additional NIMH Tier 1 Common Data elements (e.g., World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2 (WHODAS 2.0) \& DSM-5 Symptom Measure). General Cognitive Ability. Investigators will include standard general cognitive measures to assess the specificity of effects beyond general cognitive impairment. Specifically, investigators will include validated online measures from TestMyBrain (https://www.testmybrain.org/using-tmb/research.html; Digit Symbol Coding, Vocabulary, and Matrix Reasoning), as in our prior work in both clinical and healthy populations. Electroencephalogram (EEG) Procedures: During the above tasks, 64-channel EEG will be recorded from Direct Current (DC)-130 Hertz (Hz) using a 500 Hz sampling rate. Offline data preprocessing will be conducted using Matlab toolboxes EEGLAB and ERPLAB, including segmenting, baseline correction, Independent Component Analysis (ICA)-based artifact correction, artifact rejection, and filtering.
- Being tested
- Motion Perception Task, Sine Wave Speech Task, Volatility Task, Choice Probabilistic Reversal Task, Kamin Blocking Task
- Keywords
- schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, healthy controls
- Medical subject headings
- Psychotic Disorders, Schizophrenia
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Motion Perception TaskBehavioural
Assesses updating of beliefs from new sensory inputs with prior knowledge via perceiving direction changes in random dot motion stimuli
Sine Wave Speech TaskBehavioural
Measures the degree to which overweighting of prior beliefs impacts processing of sensory inputs (detection of speech).
Volatility TaskBehavioural
Measures the updating of priors about the location of a bag drop from a helicopter when the location changes (prediction errors).
Choice Probabilistic Reversal TaskBehavioural
Assesses prior belief updating when feedback about obtaining positive outcomes changes (prediction errors).
Kamin Blocking TaskBehavioural
Examines the role of mismatches between learned priors and new information (prediction errors) in belief formation about event causes.
Minnesota Trust GameBehavioural
Assesses the degree to which people distinguish between their priors about others' motivations, such as selfishness and spite, and impersonal chance in one-shot trust game and dictator games.
Dynamic Trust GameBehavioural
Assesses degree to which people learn and update priors about trusting partners from dynamic social feedback (prediction error) in a social exchange game.
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Motion Perception Task Performance
With 15 degrees of initial or changed direction vs. the probability of failing to update.
Measured: 1 hour
Sine Wave Speech Task Performance
Percentage of trials coded as speech or not vs Dprime
Measured: 1 hour
Volatility Task Performance
Percent correct bag captures during periods of stability vs. instability - patients worse in both, but particularly impaired in instability vs. Environmental volatility belief parameter
Measured: 1 hour
Choice Probabilistic Reversal Performance Task
in-switch rate - higher in patients, particularly paranoid patients vs. prior on volatility belief updating in response to volatility
Measured: 1 hour
Kamin Blocking Task Performance
number of times they predict allergy following blocked cue vs. prediction errors and learning rates
Measured: 1 hour
Minnesota Trust Game Performance
Percent of trusting choices depending on decision-agent and temptation vs. spite-guilt beliefs estimate
Measured: 1 hour
Dynamic Trust Game Performance
Trust indexed by mean investment versus learning rates
Measured: 1 hour
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted2 Oct 2026
- Study start1 Oct 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion30 Jun 2031 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Jun 2031 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (29)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for SCHIZOPHRENIA 1 (Disorder)Studies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Washington University School of MedicineThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 325 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Washington University School of Medicine
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), University of Minnesota, University of Chicago, University of California, Irvine, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Deanna Barch, Washington University School of Medicine
- Investigators
- Deanna Barch, Ph.D., Principal investigator, Washington University School of Medicine
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07853807
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 201904012: Study 1
- Other IDs
- 2R01MH084840
- Acronym
- CNTRACS
- Status last verified
- Sep 2026
- First submitted
- 11 Sep 2026
- Last updated
- 2 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Our plan is to share de-identified participant data through the National Data Archive (NDA) as required by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Publications
Li C, Boudewyn MA, Barch DM, Carter CS, Frank MJ, Gold JM, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Yonelinas A, Luck SJ, Erickson MA. Impacted and preserved sub-domains of cognitive control in schizophrenia. Neuropsychologia. 2026 Sep 9;230:109503. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2026.109503. Epub 2026 May 25.
PubMed 42184934Boudewyn MA, Erickson MA, Winsler K, Barch DM, Carter CS, Frank MJ, Gold JM, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Yonelinas AP, Luck SJ. Assessing Trial-by-Trial Electrophysiological and Behavioral Markers of Attentional Control and Sensory Precision in Psychotic and Mood Disorders. Schizophr Bull. 2025 Mar 14;51(2):543-555. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbae038.
PubMed 38616053MacDonald AW, Patzelt E, Kurth-Nelson Z, Barch DM, Carter CS, Gold JM, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM. Computational modeling of reversal learning impairments in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder reveals shared failure to exploit rewards. J Psychopathol Clin Sci. 2025 Apr;134(3):262-271. doi: 10.1037/abn0000944. Epub 2025 Mar 10.
PubMed 40063391Erickson MA, Boudewyn MA, Winsler K, Li C, Barch DM, Carter CS, Frank MJ, Gold JM, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Yonelinas A, Luck SJ. Dysfunctional Alpha Modulation as a Mechanism of Working Memory Impairment in Serious Mental Illness. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2024 Dec;9(12):1271-1280. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.07.022. Epub 2024 Aug 6.
PubMed 39117276Barch DM, Boudewyn MA, Carter CC, Erickson M, Frank MJ, Gold JM, Luck SJ, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Ranganath C, Silverstein SM, Yonelinas A. Cognitive [Computational] Neuroscience Test Reliability and Clinical Applications for Serious Mental Illness (CNTRaCS) Consortium: Progress and Future Directions. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2023;63:19-60. doi: 10.1007/7854_2022_391.
PubMed 36173600Boudewyn MA, Erickson MA, Winsler K, Ragland JD, Yonelinas A, Frank M, Silverstein SM, Gold J, MacDonald AW 3rd, Carter CS, Barch DM, Luck SJ. Managing EEG studies: How to prepare and what to do once data collection has begun. Psychophysiology. 2023 Nov;60(11):e14365. doi: 10.1111/psyp.14365. Epub 2023 Jun 14.
PubMed 37314113Rac-Lubashevsky R, Cremer A, Collins AGE, Frank MJ, Schwabe L. Neural Index of Reinforcement Learning Predicts Improved Stimulus-Response Retention under High Working Memory Load. J Neurosci. 2023 Apr 26;43(17):3131-3143. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1274-22.2023. Epub 2023 Mar 17.
PubMed 36931706Kwashie AN, Ma Y, Barch DM, Chafee M, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Carter CS, Gold JM, MacDonald AW 3rd. Comparing the functional neuroanatomy of proactive and reactive control between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2023 Feb;23(1):203-215. doi: 10.3758/s13415-022-01036-6. Epub 2022 Nov 23.
PubMed 36418846Liu RG, Frank MJ. Hierarchical clustering optimizes the tradeoff between compositionality and expressivity of task structures for flexible reinforcement learning. Artif Intell. 2022 Nov;312:103770. doi: 10.1016/j.artint.2022.103770. Epub 2022 Aug 5.
PubMed 36711165Pratt DN, Barch DM, Carter CS, Gold JM, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, MacDonald AW. Reliability and Replicability of Implicit and Explicit Reinforcement Learning Paradigms in People With Psychotic Disorders. Schizophr Bull. 2021 Apr 29;47(3):731-739. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbaa165.
PubMed 33914891Geana A, Barch DM, Gold JM, Carter CS, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Frank MJ. Using Computational Modeling to Capture Schizophrenia-Specific Reinforcement Learning Differences and Their Implications on Patient Classification. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2022 Oct;7(10):1035-1046. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.03.017. Epub 2021 Apr 18.
PubMed 33878489Hamid AA, Frank MJ, Moore CI. Wave-like dopamine dynamics as a mechanism for spatiotemporal credit assignment. Cell. 2021 May 13;184(10):2733-2749.e16. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.046. Epub 2021 Apr 15.
PubMed 33861952Moran EK, Gold JM, Carter CS, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Luck SJ, Barch DM. Both unmedicated and medicated individuals with schizophrenia show impairments across a wide array of cognitive and reinforcement learning tasks. Psychol Med. 2022 Apr;52(6):1115-1125. doi: 10.1017/S003329172000286X. Epub 2020 Aug 17.
PubMed 32799938Pedersen ML, Frank MJ. Simultaneous Hierarchical Bayesian Parameter Estimation for Reinforcement Learning and Drift Diffusion Models: a Tutorial and Links to Neural Data. Comput Brain Behav. 2020 Dec;3(4):458-471. doi: 10.1007/s42113-020-00084-w. Epub 2020 May 26.
PubMed 35128308Ray KL, Ragland JD, MacDonald AW, Gold JM, Silverstein SM, Barch DM, Carter CS. Dynamic reorganization of the frontal parietal network during cognitive control and episodic memory. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2020 Feb;20(1):76-90. doi: 10.3758/s13415-019-00753-9.
PubMed 31811557
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 2 Oct 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Cognitive Neurocomputational Task Reliability & Clinical Applications Consortium
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07853807
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- CNTRACS / 201904012: Study 1
- Keywords
- schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, healthy controls
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 325 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Washington University School of MedicineUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), University of Minnesota, University of Chicago, University of California, Irvine, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Study start
- 1 Oct 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- 30 Jun 2031 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 30 Jun 2031 (estimated)
- First posted
- 2 Oct 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
In Study 1, investigators will test the ability of each of the seven paradigms to differentiate between schizophrenia (SZ)/schizoaffective disorder (SZA) and matched healthy control subjects (HC) and to predict individual differences in clinical measures of hallucinations and delusions (as well as measures of function). Investigators will also directly compare the tasks in terms of predictive ability and psychometric properties and determine whether the tasks share variance or explain unique variance. This will include determining whether hallucinations and delusions are best explained by separate underlying processes or by a single process. Investigators will also test whether the model-based parameters from these studies are more precise and sensitive than standard behavioral methods for assessing deficits across psychotic disorders and for predicting hallucinations and delusions (Aim 1). Investigators will also validate key model-based parameters against well-characterized neurophysiological measures using electroencephalogram (EEG) (Aim 4). The data from Study 1 will also be used to optimize (e.g., length, floor, and ceiling effects) tasks for Study 2. To generate a sample with sufficient variation in hallucinations and delusions, investigators will recruit the following groups that balance feasibility with clinical relevance: A) healthy controls (HC) [HC, N=125]; B) schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder [SZ/SZA, N=200]). For Study 1, investigators will ensure that 40 patients are unmedicated. Investigators anticipate a ~20% screen fail/drop-out rate based on our prior Cognitive Neuroscience Test Reliability and Clinical Applications for Schizophrenia Consortium (CNTRACS) studies. Thus, investigators will run an additional 40 SZ/SZA and 15 HC. All sites have experience recruiting patients in each of these groups as indicated by our past successful studies, and the fact that investigators have been able to recruit patients with significant hallucinations and delusions in all groups. Investigators will also validate key model-based parameters against well-characterized neurophysiological measures using electroencephalogram (EEG) (Aim 4). The data from Study 1 will also be used to optimize (e.g., length, floor, and ceiling effects) tasks for Study 2. To generate a sample with sufficient variation in hallucinations and delusions, investigators will recruit the following groups that balance feasibility with clinical relevance: A) healthy controls (HC) [HC, N=125]; B) schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder [SZ/SZA, N=200]). For Study 1, investigators will ensure that 40 patients are unmedicated. Investigators anticipate a ~20% screen fail/drop-out rate based on our prior Cognitive Neuroscience Test Reliability and Clinical Applications for Schizophrenia Consortium (CNTRACS) studies. Thus, investigators will run an additional 40 SZ/SZA and 15 HC. All sites have experience recruiting patients in each of these groups as indicated by our past successful studies, and the fact that investigators have been able to recruit patients with significant hallucinations and delusions in all groups.
Detailed description
Each participant will complete 4 sessions (~3 hours each) within 3 weeks, as in our prior studies. The first session includes clinical, self-report, proxy function, and community function assessments. Sessions 2-4 are for task and electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements. Each participant will complete 7 tasks across these sessions, while EEG is recorded. Task order will be counterbalanced across sessions. Clinical Assessment and Self-Report: A trained assessor will diagnose participants using the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-5) for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) Text Revision 59 (TR59). Clinicians will rate hallucination and delusion symptom severity with the Chicago Hallucinations Assessment Tool (CHAT) and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). Investigators will use the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS) to evaluate the degree of preoccupation, conviction, distress, and life disruption associated with hallucinations and delusions elicited on the BPRS and CHAT. To address specificity, investigators will administer the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS). For self-report, investigators will use the Beliefs about Voices Scale, which assesses attributions about the origin and power of voices, and the Yale Control Over Perceptual Experiences (COPE) scale, which evaluates the extent to which people feel they can exert control over their voices. Investigators also will use the Peters Delusion Inventory to assess the extent of delusional thinking, supplemented by the Green Paranoia Scale to provide additional coverage of persecutory beliefs. To assess specificity, investigators will use the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess depression, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) to assess anxiety, and the Motivation and Pleasure Scale-Self-Report (MAP-SR) to assess anhedonia and motivation. Investigators will conduct a principal components analysis (PCA) on measures of the same construct (e.g., delusions) and perform primary analyses using the first principal component, followed by secondary analyses of specific measures False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction. Community Function: Patients will complete the Specific Levels of Functioning (SLOF) scale, a validated scale of work and community function. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Common Data Elements: Investigators will acquire the additional NIMH Tier 1 Common Data elements (e.g., World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2 (WHODAS 2.0) \& DSM-5 Symptom Measure). General Cognitive Ability. Investigators will include standard general cognitive measures to assess the specificity of effects beyond general cognitive impairment. Specifically, investigators will include validated online measures from TestMyBrain (https://www.testmybrain.org/using-tmb/research.html; Digit Symbol Coding, Vocabulary, and Matrix Reasoning), as in our prior work in both clinical and healthy populations. Electroencephalogram (EEG) Procedures: During the above tasks, 64-channel EEG will be recorded from Direct Current (DC)-130 Hertz (Hz) using a 500 Hz sampling rate. Offline data preprocessing will be conducted using Matlab toolboxes EEGLAB and ERPLAB, including segmenting, baseline correction, Independent Component Analysis (ICA)-based artifact correction, artifact rejection, and filtering.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 59 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (11 listed)
- General Inclusion
- age 18 to 59
- no substance disorder in past six months (confirmed with urine drug screens and breathalyzers);
- no clinically significant head injury or neurological disease. 4. Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR) score =16+.
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective;
Key exclusion criteria (6 listed)
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) Psychosis or Bipolar Disorder diagnosis
- Family history of psychosis or bipolar
- Schizophrenia/Schizoaffective Disorder (SZ/SZA): additional exclusion criteria for the unmedicated individuals are:
- not in acute exacerbation requiring immediate hospitalization or treatment
- self-reported medication non-compliance for at least the four previous weeks 3)never having started medications
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Motion Perception TaskAssesses updating of beliefs from new sensory inputs with prior knowledge via perceiving direction changes in random dot motion stimuli | Behavioural | – |
| Sine Wave Speech TaskMeasures the degree to which overweighting of prior beliefs impacts processing of sensory inputs (detection of speech). | Behavioural | – |
| Volatility TaskMeasures the updating of priors about the location of a bag drop from a helicopter when the location changes (prediction errors). | Behavioural | – |
| Choice Probabilistic Reversal TaskAssesses prior belief updating when feedback about obtaining positive outcomes changes (prediction errors). | Behavioural | – |
| Kamin Blocking TaskExamines the role of mismatches between learned priors and new information (prediction errors) in belief formation about event causes. | Behavioural | – |
| Minnesota Trust GameAssesses the degree to which people distinguish between their priors about others' motivations, such as selfishness and spite, and impersonal chance in one-shot trust game and dictator games. | Behavioural | – |
| Dynamic Trust GameAssesses degree to which people learn and update priors about trusting partners from dynamic social feedback (prediction error) in a social exchange game. | Behavioural | – |
Primary outcome
Motion Perception Task Performance
Time frame: 1 hour
With 15 degrees of initial or changed direction vs. the probability of failing to update.
Sine Wave Speech Task Performance
Time frame: 1 hour
Percentage of trials coded as speech or not vs Dprime
Volatility Task Performance
Time frame: 1 hour
Percent correct bag captures during periods of stability vs. instability - patients worse in both, but particularly impaired in instability vs. Environmental volatility belief parameter
Choice Probabilistic Reversal Performance Task
Time frame: 1 hour
in-switch rate - higher in patients, particularly paranoid patients vs. prior on volatility belief updating in response to volatility
Kamin Blocking Task Performance
Time frame: 1 hour
number of times they predict allergy following blocked cue vs. prediction errors and learning rates
Minnesota Trust Game Performance
Time frame: 1 hour
Percent of trusting choices depending on decision-agent and temptation vs. spite-guilt beliefs estimate
Dynamic Trust Game Performance
Time frame: 1 hour
Trust indexed by mean investment versus learning rates
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 2 Oct 2026.
- Results publication: PubMed 42184934Li C, Boudewyn MA, Barch DM, Carter CS, Frank MJ, Gold JM, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Yonelinas A, Luck SJ, Erickson MA. Impacted and preserved sub-domains of cognitive control in schizophrenia. Neuropsychologia. 2026 Sep 9;230:109503. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2026.109503. Epub 2026 May 25.
- Results publication: PubMed 38616053Boudewyn MA, Erickson MA, Winsler K, Barch DM, Carter CS, Frank MJ, Gold JM, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Yonelinas AP, Luck SJ. Assessing Trial-by-Trial Electrophysiological and Behavioral Markers of Attentional Control and Sensory Precision in Psychotic and Mood Disorders. Schizophr Bull. 2025 Mar 14;51(2):543-555. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbae038.
- Results publication: PubMed 40063391MacDonald AW, Patzelt E, Kurth-Nelson Z, Barch DM, Carter CS, Gold JM, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM. Computational modeling of reversal learning impairments in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder reveals shared failure to exploit rewards. J Psychopathol Clin Sci. 2025 Apr;134(3):262-271. doi: 10.1037/abn0000944. Epub 2025 Mar 10.
- Results publication: PubMed 39117276Erickson MA, Boudewyn MA, Winsler K, Li C, Barch DM, Carter CS, Frank MJ, Gold JM, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Yonelinas A, Luck SJ. Dysfunctional Alpha Modulation as a Mechanism of Working Memory Impairment in Serious Mental Illness. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2024 Dec;9(12):1271-1280. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.07.022. Epub 2024 Aug 6.
- Results publication: PubMed 36173600Barch DM, Boudewyn MA, Carter CC, Erickson M, Frank MJ, Gold JM, Luck SJ, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Ranganath C, Silverstein SM, Yonelinas A. Cognitive [Computational] Neuroscience Test Reliability and Clinical Applications for Serious Mental Illness (CNTRaCS) Consortium: Progress and Future Directions. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2023;63:19-60. doi: 10.1007/7854_2022_391.
- Results publication: PubMed 37314113Boudewyn MA, Erickson MA, Winsler K, Ragland JD, Yonelinas A, Frank M, Silverstein SM, Gold J, MacDonald AW 3rd, Carter CS, Barch DM, Luck SJ. Managing EEG studies: How to prepare and what to do once data collection has begun. Psychophysiology. 2023 Nov;60(11):e14365. doi: 10.1111/psyp.14365. Epub 2023 Jun 14.
- Results publication: PubMed 36931706Rac-Lubashevsky R, Cremer A, Collins AGE, Frank MJ, Schwabe L. Neural Index of Reinforcement Learning Predicts Improved Stimulus-Response Retention under High Working Memory Load. J Neurosci. 2023 Apr 26;43(17):3131-3143. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1274-22.2023. Epub 2023 Mar 17.
- Results publication: PubMed 36418846Kwashie AN, Ma Y, Barch DM, Chafee M, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Carter CS, Gold JM, MacDonald AW 3rd. Comparing the functional neuroanatomy of proactive and reactive control between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2023 Feb;23(1):203-215. doi: 10.3758/s13415-022-01036-6. Epub 2022 Nov 23.
- Results publication: PubMed 36711165Liu RG, Frank MJ. Hierarchical clustering optimizes the tradeoff between compositionality and expressivity of task structures for flexible reinforcement learning. Artif Intell. 2022 Nov;312:103770. doi: 10.1016/j.artint.2022.103770. Epub 2022 Aug 5.
- Results publication: PubMed 33914891Pratt DN, Barch DM, Carter CS, Gold JM, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, MacDonald AW. Reliability and Replicability of Implicit and Explicit Reinforcement Learning Paradigms in People With Psychotic Disorders. Schizophr Bull. 2021 Apr 29;47(3):731-739. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbaa165.
- Results publication: PubMed 33878489Geana A, Barch DM, Gold JM, Carter CS, MacDonald AW 3rd, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Frank MJ. Using Computational Modeling to Capture Schizophrenia-Specific Reinforcement Learning Differences and Their Implications on Patient Classification. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2022 Oct;7(10):1035-1046. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.03.017. Epub 2021 Apr 18.
- Results publication: PubMed 33861952Hamid AA, Frank MJ, Moore CI. Wave-like dopamine dynamics as a mechanism for spatiotemporal credit assignment. Cell. 2021 May 13;184(10):2733-2749.e16. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.046. Epub 2021 Apr 15.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. Our plan is to share de-identified participant data through the National Data Archive (NDA) as required by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Deanna Barch, Ph.D. principal investigator
Washington University School of Medicine
5 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Motion Perception Task, Sine Wave Speech Task and Volatility Task in people with SCHIZOPHRENIA 1 (Disorder) and Schizoaffective Disorder, run by Washington University School of Medicine at 5 sites in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 11 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 2 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 5 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Deanna Barch, Ph.D. (314-935-8729, dbarch@wustl.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Motion Perception Task Performance (time frame: 1 hour). The study lists 7 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT07853807, which also lists 29 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 2 Oct 2026.