Visual Exploration and Attention: Studies in Patients With Schizophrenia and Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorders; Schizophrenia
• Interventions: Other: Neuropsychological evaluation

• Registration Number: NCT00914030
• Lead Sponsor: University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

Brief Summary

The aim of the protocol is to better understand the impairments in visual processing, as such impairments may induce social interaction difficulties in subjects with autism spectrum disorders (adults and children) and schizophrenia, like face exploration.The same protocol will be used for the three populations, each population being compared with matched controls. The explorations are designed to test two different hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of the visual perception difficulties of the two populations. Even though difficulties to extract the global form of objects have been described in both subjects with autism and schizophrenia, we will test two different hypotheses for the two populations. We will test the hypothesis that subjects with autism display an advantage for the processing of local information arising at an early level of processing, whereas disorders observed in patients with schizophrenia originate from attention disorders. The protocol includes three consecutive studies, each one being applied in each of the three populations.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2009-06
• Study First Submitted: 2009-06-02
• Study First Submitted QC: 2009-06-03
• Study First Posted: 2009-06-04
• Status Verified: 2016-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2016-08-25
• Last Update Posted: 2016-08-26
• Primary Completion: 2016-12
• Study Completion: 2016-12

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 140

Inclusion Criteria

• IQ above 70, as evaluated with the WAIS III in adults and with the WISC in children
• signed consent
• DSM IV criteria in case of autism spectrum disorders or schizophrenia

Exclusion Criteria

• grave or non stabilized somatic pathology
• pathology affecting the central nervous system; other than the studied pathologies
• intake of psychotropic drug, except for patients
• invalidating sensory processes

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
B1	Neuropsychological evaluation	Adult subjects with autism
A1	Neuropsychological evaluation	Patients with schizophrenia
A2	Neuropsychological evaluation	Control subjects matched individually with patients with schizophrenia
C2	Neuropsychological evaluation	Control subjects matched individually with children with autism
C1	Neuropsychological evaluation	Children with autism
B2	Neuropsychological evaluation	Control subjects matched individually with adult subjects with autism

Trial Locations

Locations (5)

Clinique Lautréamont; 🇫🇷 Loos, France

Pôle départemental du Centre de Ressources Autisme pour adultes (67) - Etablissement public de santé Alsace-Nord (site de Brumath); 🇫🇷 Brumath, France

Centre de Ressources Autisme Pôle adultes (68) - Espace Autisme 68; 🇫🇷 Colmar, France

INSERM U666 ; Pôle de Psychiatrie - Service de Psychiatrie Adulte- HUS; 🇫🇷 Strasbourg, France

Pôle régional du Centre de Ressources Autisme pour enfants et adolescents - Unité d'évaluation des troubles du développement Hôpital de l'Elsau - Pôle de Psychiatrie - Unité d'évaluation des troubles du développement Hôpital de l'Elsau - HUS; 🇫🇷 Strasbourg, France