Home-based aerobic exercise plus online brain training to improve thinking after a first schizophrenia episode
Improving Cognition Through Telehealth Aerobic Exercise and Cognitive Training After a First Schizophrenia Episode
This program combines guided aerobic exercise with web-based cognitive training delivered by telehealth to help thinking and daily functioning for people after a first schizophrenia episode.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California Los Angeles NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11306042 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would do guided aerobic workouts and computer-based brain-training sessions from home using videoconferencing. The plan pairs exercise that raises brain growth factors with targeted exercises that retrain attention, memory, and other thinking skills. Researchers will measure changes in cognition, work/school functioning, and blood markers like BDNF to track biological effects. The trial compares the combined approach to cognitive training without added aerobic exercise to confirm earlier promising findings.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are people who have experienced a first episode of schizophrenia, are medically stable, and can take part in remote exercise and online training sessions.
Not a fit: Patients with severe physical limitations that prevent aerobic exercise, uncontrolled psychiatric symptoms, or without reliable internet access may not benefit or be eligible.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could improve thinking, memory, and work or school functioning after a first schizophrenia episode and be widely accessible via telehealth.
How similar studies have performed: Smaller studies show benefits from exercise or cognitive training alone and early combined trials were promising, but large confirmatory evidence is still limited.
Where this research is happening
Los Angeles, United States
- University of California Los Angeles — Los Angeles, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nuechterlein, Keith H — University of California Los Angeles
- Study coordinator: Nuechterlein, Keith H
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.