Enhancement of Therapeutic Learning in OCD Using tDCS
Completed · Not applicable · Has a placebo group
Conditions studied: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
In brief
Psychiatric disorders characterized by pathological fear and anxiety are common and often disabling. Despite their limitations, exposure therapies are among the most efficacious treatments for these disorders. Extinction learning is thought to be a core mechanism of therapeutic exposure. Extinction learning is mediated by a well-defined circuit encompassing the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), amygdala, and hippocampus. This raises the exciting possibility that direct engagement of this circuitry might enhance the response to therapeutic exposure. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulation technology that can augment brain plasticity, learning, and memory. The proposed study will evaluate whether tDCS can improve therapeutic learning and memory processes among participants diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) This study aims to use tDCS to improve learning and memory processes within the context of an exposure laboratory challenge. Participants diagnosed with OCD will complete a two-day experimental study. On day 1, participants will receive sham (placebo) or active tDCS followed by approximately 50-minutes of individualized exposure. on day 2, participants will return to complete an additional 50-minutes of exposure. Subjective distress will be repeatedly monitored during exposure to allow for the modeling of within-trail and within-session learning and between-session recall of learning.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT03572543
- Run by
- Yale University
- People needed
- 26
- Starts
- 2015-09-15
- Expected to finish
- 2017-09-07
- Last updated by the study team
- 2022-02-17
Who can join
Age: 18 and older, up to 55. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.
You may qualify if…
- Ability to provide informed consent (as established by clinical interview), and voluntary, signed informed consent prior to the performance of any study-specific procedures;
- Ability and willingness to perform study-relevant clinical assessments and tDCS;
- Age 18-55;
- Medication free or stable (> 4 weeks) medication(s).
- A Diagnostic and Statistical Manual diagnosis of OCD; and
- Clinically significant obsessions and compulsions of at least moderate severity, as established by a score of at least 16 on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) during initial screening.
You may not qualify if…
- Any unstable medical, psychiatric, or neurological condition (including active or otherwise problematic suicidality) that may necessitate urgent treatment;
- Any substance dependence or severe substance abuse within the past 6 months;
- Daily use of psychotropic medications that substantially lower seizure threshold (e.g., clozapine);
- Daily use of psychotropic drugs that may interfere with extinction learning (e.g., anxiolytics);
- Any history of a psychotic disorder or of mania;
- Current active suicidal ideation or any suicidal intent;
- Any major neurological disease or history of major head trauma, including concussion with extended loss of consciousness, or of psychosurgery;
- Any history of epilepsy;
- Pregnancy;
- Any metal in the body or other contraindication to MRI scanning or tDCS;
- Any history of adverse effects to brain stimulation;
- Recent (< 8 weeks) change in psychotherapy - i.e. no recently instituted cognitive behavioral therapy will be permitted, but ongoing therapy of long duration will not constitute an exclusion;
- OCD symptoms that cannot be provoked with in vivo exposures in a laboratory environment
Where it is running
- Connecticut Mental Health Center — New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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