Brain Stimulation and Group Therapy to Improve Gesture and Social Skills in Schizophrenia—The Study Protocol of a Randomized, Sham-Controlled, Three-Arm, Double-Blind Trial

An important component of nonverbal communication is gesture performance, which is strongly impaired in 2/3 of patients with schizophrenia. Gesture deficits in schizophrenia are linked to poor social functioning and reduced quality of life. Therefore, interventions that can help alleviate these deficits in schizophrenia are crucial. Here, we describe an ongoing randomized, double-blind 3-arm, sham-controlled trial that combines two interventions to reduce gesture deficits in schizophrenia patients. The combined interventions are continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) and social cognitive remediation therapy (SCRT). We will randomize 72 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in three different groups of 24 patients. The first group will receive real cTBS and real SCRT, the second group will receive sham cTBS and real SCRT, and finally the third group will receive sham SCRT. Here, the sham treatments are, as per definition, inactive interventions that mimic as closely as possible the real treatments (similar to placebo). In addition, 24 age- and gender-matched controls with no interventions will be added for comparison. Measures of nonverbal communication, social cognition, and multimodal brain imaging will be applied at baseline and after intervention. The main research aim of this project will be to test whether the combination of cTBS and SCRT improves gesture performance and social functioning in schizophrenia patients more than standalone cTBS, SCRT or sham psychotherapy. We hypothesize that the patient group receiving the combined interventions will be superior in improving gesture performance. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: [www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT04106427].