Project Summary

J. Bruno Debruille, M.D., Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, aims to study the mechanism behind delusions: holding a belief despite having contradictory evidence. Dr. Debruille has evidence that N400, a component of brain electrical activity, appears to be involved in integrating delusional knowledge. He has found that highly delusional individuals with schizophrenia have a greater frontal N400 compared to less delusional patients. In the proposed project, Dr. Debruille will test whether greater N400 in more delusional patients is associated with an increased tendency to discard contradictory knowledge to a sustained belief. His study subjects will be patients suffering from a first episode of psychosis before undergoing treatment. He will measure their ability to discard previously acquired knowledge, their ability at integrating information contradictory to their delusional belief, and their N400. The protocol will also allow seeing whether medications that decrease delusions also decrease the N400, which could then be tested as a predictor of treatment efficacy.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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