for auditory hallucinations
School of Medicine researchers are recruiting patients nationally for a clinical trial using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to help still the voices that are so troubling to some individuals with schizophrenia.
"These hallucinations, which consist of spoken speech that are labeled 'voices' by patients themselves, are often very disabling and resistant to currently available medication therapies," says Dr. Ralph Hoffman, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and a principal investigator.
Hoffman received a $2.1 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to expand the research to include 90 patients. There are funds to fly patients to New Haven, where they will stay on a research unit during the five- to eight-week period that they are in the clinical trial. TMS generally is painless and is experienced as a knocking sensation. It is administered while the individuals are awake by positioning an electromagnetic coil on the scalp.
"It appears that stimulating populations of neurons once per second with TMS over many minutes modestly reduces the capacity of these neurons to activate each other," Hoffman says. "As a result, neural populations as a whole become less reactive or excitable. Our study findings suggest that hallucinations can be curtailed using this approach without interfering with normal brain function."
Hoffman recently completed a study testing TMS in different areas of the brain and found that positioning the TMS over what is known as Wernicke's region in the left temporal lobe, as well as a second region located on the opposite side of the brain, were optimal in reducing these hallucinations. He says these two brain areas, which ordinarily play key roles in perceiving words spoken by other people, have also been found in other studies to be important in producing hallucinated "voices."
For patients enrolled in the trial, TMS will be administered to these brain areas once per second for 16 minutes daily over a three-week period. One-third of the subjects in the trial will start out receiving a placebo form of TMS. After three weeks, these subjects will also be offered a trial of real TMS. The study will use a magnetic resonance imaging brain scan to precisely position TMS over desired brain regions.
For further information about the clinical trial, contact Joan Nye in the Department of Psychiatry at (203) 737-2762 or joan.nye@yale.edu.
T H I S
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Patient care expert Paul Cleary named dean of public health
Gift will help expand music education for city students
Yale experts provide cancer information on 'Healthline'
Alumnus playwright debuts 'dance of the holy ghosts' at Yale Rep
Noted journalists to discuss media's role in international justice
Public service is focus of talk by former U.S. secretary of state
Library acquires the papers of artist and gay rights activist Harvey Fierstein
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT NEWS
Conference will explore challenges to providing quality healthcare
School hosts second delegation of Kazakhstan government leadersScientists say most human-chimp differences due to gene regulation
Events to mark guitarist's two decades of teaching
Yale biomedical engineers create stable network of fine blood vessels
Fortune magazine editor to deliver lecture on 'Power and Leadership'
Famed composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim to visit campus
Event to explore how Christians, Muslims view government
Event to explore executive power and its recent effects
MEDICAL SCHOOL NEWS
Disaster planning and recovery is focus of conference
Study: Turned head results in more serious whiplash
Researchers say frailty in elderly is preventable
Team finds bone marrow cells can convert to gut lining cells
Deleting specific gene in brain cells mimics effects of . . .
Trial to assess new treatment for auditory hallucinations
Keys to successful heart attack treatment identified
Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale to host 'Seeing Sinai' . . .
Survey shows that STARS alumni give program high marks
In Memoriam: Dr. Lawrence Brass
Celebration of the library's 75th anniversary continues . . .
Forum will explore issue of payment for forest ecosystem services
Free haircuts offered to those who donate to Locks of Love
Memorial service planned for Dr. Charles McKhann
Campus Notes
Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News
Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines
Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases|
E-Mail Us|Yale Home