Neurocircuit Mechanisms of OCD Across the Lifespan

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

In brief

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), characterized by intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and related behavioral rituals (compulsions), is a common psychiatric illness that often emerges in childhood and causes life-long disability in over 50% of patients. Psychological theory suggests that OCD symptoms are driven by a person's difficulty disengaging their feelings from simple tasks (e.g. washing hands, locking a door) due to excessive anxiety about performance errors. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the gold standard treatment for OCD, repeatedly exposes patients to their OCD-stressor until this anxiety is reduced. While CBT is typically more effective in teenagers than adults, patients from both age groups are usually left with residual symptoms, highlighting the need for better treatments. In this study, CBT will be studied in both teen-aged and adult patients. Two groups, both with childhood onset OCD, will be randomized to either CBT for OCD or stress management training (SMT), an active therapy but with minimal effects on OCD symptoms. The investigators will also study age-matched, healthy controls as comparison subjects. Before and after 12 weeks of CBT, all subjects will undergo functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans to see what regions of the brain become active when a concentration task is performed and how that activation is changed after CBT. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the brain changes associated with CBT treatment and how differences in these changes in teenage compared to adult patients may drive differences in CBT response.

Key facts

Study ID
NCT02437773
Run by
University of Michigan
People needed
206
Starts
2015-03-09
Expected to finish
2020-10-21
Last updated by the study team
2020-11-06

Who can join

Age: 13 and older, up to 45. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

Where it is running

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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