How young people at risk for psychosis process reward and importance
Reward, Salience and Value Processing in Youths at Risk for Psychosis: The RSVP Study
This project looks at how teens and young adults at high risk for psychosis respond to rewarding and neutral experiences to better understand problems like reduced pleasure and unusual beliefs.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Maryland Baltimore NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Baltimore, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11266178 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would join a group of about 96 teens and young adults who are considered at clinical high risk for psychosis. Researchers will measure both adaptive salience (how you respond to genuinely rewarding events) and aberrant salience (when neutral events feel unusually important) using behavioral tasks and brain measures. Participants will have clinical follow-up visits over time so the team can link these measures to changes in negative and positive symptoms and daily functioning. Most participants will have minimal prior exposure to antipsychotic medications so the team can study early, evolving brain and behavioral changes.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are teens and young adults identified as being at clinical high risk for psychosis, especially those with minimal or no antipsychotic exposure.
Not a fit: People without signs of being at risk for psychosis, or those already diagnosed with a full psychotic disorder or on long-term antipsychotic treatment, are unlikely to benefit directly.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal early brain and behavioral signs that predict symptom changes and point to new targets for treatments to prevent or reduce psychosis-related problems.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies in people with schizophrenia have linked altered salience processing to symptoms, but studying both adaptive and aberrant salience together in a large at-risk youth group is a new approach.
Where this research is happening
Baltimore, United States
- University of Maryland Baltimore — Baltimore, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Waltz, James a — University of Maryland Baltimore
- Study coordinator: Waltz, James a
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.