Ever since being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder at CAMH, I was eligible to participate in experiments to help researchers further understand the illness and/or find possible cures. Experiments range from studying genetic factors to cognitive behaviours.
Today's testing was a little different from the usual I have participated in. For one, this experiment took place over 2 days, 12 hours to be exact. It was partly a genetics test mixed in with cognitive exams. Along with this, it was also to test the effects of nicotine on schizophrenics as 85% of said patients smoke. I was told recruiting patients like me, non-smokers, will be the difficult part. I was the 3rd participant in this 3 year study which aims to study 120 subjects.
The first set of tasks involved testing the limits of my memory and reaction time. Though amusing, the later experiments were somewhat more curious. They did a EEG and TMG on me.
The EEG was an experiment where they stuck probes around my face and head to measure the electric impulses when I heard clicking noises from a pair of head sets. The clicking sounds came in pairs, the second one coming a fraction of a second after the first. The hypothesis is that patients may not be able to filter out redundant information so they'll hear both clicks clearer than the average person. This test was boring as I sat there for 40 minutes listening to clicks and dozed off several times and possibly fell asleep for several seconds, which supposedly I should avoid.
The TMG was an experiment to measure similar effects to the EEG except it used electromagnetic impulses instead. Again I had sticky probes on me, except this time, on the hand. A device was placed around my head to target the left cortex of my brain. Each time a pulse was fired, my right arm twitched, much like the knee-jerk reaction.
The 3 aforementioned tasks were repeated after a nicotine/placebo patch was placed on my arm. It was a double blind test but it was revealed to me at the end that I got the nicotine patch, which was what I hoped for. It made me feel more lively, confident and interested in the work. So if I didn't learn anything from today's experiment (which I did), it would be that I like nicotine.