Schizophrenia and Predominant Negative Symptoms

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an accelerated form of neuromodulation therapy can help improve negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Negative symptoms can include low motivation, reduced emotional expression, and difficulty with social interaction. The study will also look at how safe and tolerable this treatment is when given over a short period of time. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either active neuromodulation therapy or sham (placebo) stimulation. The study will also compare two different ways of choosing where to place the stimulation. The investigators want to learn whether this accelerated treatment approach is safe and feasible for people with schizophrenia, whether negative symptoms improve after treatment, and whether the way the stimulation site is chosen affects outcomes Participants will be asked to complete clinical interviews and questionnaires, undergo a brain scan, receive neuromodulation therapy or sham stimulation over five consecutive days, and attend follow-up visits after treatment This study is being conducted at three hospitals in Canada and is designed to help plan larger studies in the future.

In following guidelines for studying negative symptoms in schizophrenia, 60 patients aged 18-40, diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder during the last ten years, will receive a combination of the iron chelator DFP plus NAC or a matching placebo plus NAC combination, as add-on to their maintenance antipsychotic drug (APD) treatment, for a duration of 36 weeks. Prior to initiation of treatment, all participants will undergo baseline MRI scan. A follow-up MRI will be conducted at the end of the 36-week study period, or upon early withdrawal if applicable, to evaluate the effect of the add-on treatment on iron dyshomeostasis and morphology.