Schizophrenia is a major public health problem associated with cognitive deficits, such as
short and long term memory, executive functioning, attention and speed of processing that are
amongst the strongest predictors of impaired functional outcome. In addition, schizophrenia
patients show reduced "plasticity", defined as reduced learning.
D-serine is a naturally occurring activator of the N-methyl-d-aspartate-type glutamate
receptors (NMDAR) in the brain, and this project will assess the optimal dose of D-serine
treatment over three sessions of a program designed to measure auditory plasticity.