Grant: Operating Grant

Schizophrenia is a debilitating disorder that exacts enormous personal, social and economic costs. Currently, 300,000 Canadians suffer from this illness, which is characterized by a constellation of clinical symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, delusions, impaired cognition) and life-long functional disability. Memory impairments are one of the most difficult to treat problems in SCZ that underlie the poor day-to-day functioning of these patients. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been shown to be an effective and safe in the treatment of schizophrenia. We have recently evaluated rTMS for the treatment of these memory impairments in schizophrenia in a small sample. Our data shows that by stimulating frontal regions of the brain there is an improvement in memory. Additionally, we will complete advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before and after the study for each participant to help better understand the effects of treatment on the brain. In the proposed study we intend to investigate if rTMS can improve memory performance in a larger sample of patients with schizophrenia and determine if the treatment might help change the structure of parts of the brain that are important for certain types of memory. If our findings hold, these data will provide promising new treatments for memory impairments in schizophrenia. Having additional treatment options available is vital to improve our patients' quality of life and functioning that may provide hope for those who would otherwise suffer from persistent illness.