Effects of Varenicline on Plasticity in Schizophrenia
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2015-08-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
This laboratory pilot study will explore the effects of varenicline tartrate on long-term
potentiation (LTP)-like mechanisms of (1) the motor cortex and (2) the dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and working memory in non-smoking patients with schizophrenia and
healthy controls using a Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS) method. The present study will
use this novel PAS method to evaluate the effects of five doses of varenicline (Champix) 0.5
mg BID treatment on neuroplasticity changes and working memory in 28 non-smokers with
schizophrenia and 28 non-smoking controls in a placebo-controlled, double-blinded, cross-over
design. The hypothesis is that varenicline will increase LTP-like facilitation of the DLPFC
as compared with placebo in patients with schizophrenia, with less or a null effect in
healthy controls. Likewise, it is hypothesized that varenicline will specifically improve
working memory in patients with schizophrenia as compared with placebo and healthy controls.
We Hypothesize that: 1.Patients with Schizophrenia(SCZ) will have reduced cortical LTP and
impaired working memory compared to healthy controls 2. Sub-chronic varenicline challenge
will attenuate the cortical LTP and working memory deficit in patients with SCZ. 3.Reversal
of the cortical LTP deficit by varenicline in patients with SCZ will be associated with
improvement in working memory.