::Schizophrenia Research Institute::participate in research::

PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH

THE SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH REGISTER

About the Register

Schizophrenia research has always been hampered by the difficulty of finding enough people to participate. The Schizophrenia Research Register aims to overcome this.

The Schizophrenia Research Register, initiated in 1998, is a database of people willing to participate in a wide range of research projects. When a suitable research project arises, its details and time schedules are communicated to appropriate volunteers - who can then decide whether they wish to participate.

If you have schizophrenia, please consider putting your name down on the Schizophrenia Research Register, a volunteer database of people who want to contribute to research.

At March 2007, the Register listed over 1,400 members and approximately half of these people have been involved in a research project. In 2006 alone, Register members have participated in 17 studies in NSW. This research would not have been possible without the Register.

What Kind of Research?

Research projects are conducted regularly in NSW and the ACT by leading medical researchers and clinicians. As a member of the Schizophrenia Research Register, you may be invited to participate in some of these projects. The research projects, and the tasks you will be asked to do, vary. Some projects are as simple as answering a questionnaire, while others may require you to attend a research facility. Each project will be explained in detail at the time.

Participation in these projects is completely voluntary and you may refuse or withdraw your consent at any stage. If you wish to be withdrawn from the Register this will not affect any treatment you may be receiving or your future relationship with the Schizophrenia Research Institute, your health service provider or any other organisation.

The research studies that have benefited from the participation of members of the Schizophrenia Research Register have covered a broad range of areas in a variety of different disciplines including the clinical, cognitive neuroscience and neurobiological fields.

The following brief examples provide a small sample of some recent projects using people from the Research Register:

The Institute's ongoing research into scanpath abnormalities in schizophrenia has already investigated how characteristic restrictions in scanning human faces may contribute to deficits in interpersonal behaviour associated with the illness. Current research is now exploring whether these disturbances in visual attention can be remediated to improve emotion recognition in schizophrenia.

A study at the Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science is training patients to normalise their scanning of human faces. If successful, the results could form the basis for a new treatment intervention to improve emotion recognition and social communication skills.

The Brain Atlasing Initiative is the first study to link deficits in gray matter thickness to reduced brain activation during performance of a planning task in young people experiencing their first episode of schizophrenia.

Through its fruitful collaboration with the UCLA Laboratory of Neuroimaging, the Schizophrenia Research Institute was able to introduce to Australia the brain imaging techniques which made the current research possible.

A research team completed an innovative study combining fMRI and ERP to examine emotion processing in schizophrenia. The results indicate that schizophrenia disrupts the brain's facial perception processes at the very earliest 'encoding' stage, before the more elaborate emotion recognition mechanisms of the limbic system are activated.

Composite ERP brainwave activity recordings of normal controls (CON) and schizophrenia subjects (SCZ) while performing a facial emotion recognition task. Significantly, schizophrenia subjects less accurately discriminate between emotion expressions at a very early stage of information processing.

What's Involved in Participating?

You will be asked to complete an interview with a trained representative. The interview is designed to provide us with important demographic, clinical and family information, as well as asking you to complete several tasks designed to measure aspects of your current thinking. You will then be informed when a suitable research project arises, including information about what it involves and time requirements. You can then decide whether you wish to participate in that particular project. Projects can range from completing a simple questionnaire to attending a research facility and having an MRI brain scan.

Who Has Access to the Register?

Research projects are conducted regularly by leading medical researchers and clinicians. Researchers wishing to access volunteers from the Schizophrenia Research Register must apply in writing to the Schizophrenia Infrastructure Panel to ensure they satisfy strict guidelines and have prior ethics approval for their study.

How do I get more information?

Contact the Schizophrenia Research Register toll free on 1800 639 295 or (02) 4924 6660 or email on register@schizophreniaresearch.org.au

Enrol Today

Please enrol by phoning Freecall: 1800 639 295, or by completing the on-line enrolment form.

Please note that currently only residents of NSW and the ACT (Australia) can enrol on the Schizophrenia Research Register.

Guidelines for Researchers

The Schizophrenia Research Infrastructure Panel is responsible for approving all research applications made to the Register. The Panel aims to protect the interests of Register members and to support researchers in their schizophrenia research interests.

Click below for guidelines for researchers wishing to access the Register, the application form and the annual progress report form.