Neural Mechanisms of Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) Treatment Failure (ERP in Silico)

University College London (UCL)

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05520398

15/0541

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of this study is to understand why patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) fail in therapy.

To understand the neural mechanisms involved in exposure therapy that support success and clinical improvement in order to improve therapy outcomes for OCD patients.

Full description

A course of therapy is recommended for individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It is usually a type of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with exposure and response prevention (ERP).

In this study the investigators assess patients pre-therapy and post-therapy evaluating symptom severity (measured by the Y-BOCS) and decision-making (measured by online questionnaires and computer-based behavioural tasks).

To examine how decisions are formed in patients undergoing OCD CBT, how behaviour changes after a non-pharmacological therapy module and how it is associated to the alleviation of OCD symptoms.

The study, which will recruit 90 patients, is based at University College London - Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging. This study is a part of the Cognitive and Neural Networks in Psychiatry (CNNP) study.

Enrollment: 90 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 55 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Fluent in written and spoken English
• Normal/corrected to normal vision
• Expecting to start OCD therapy

Exclusion criteria

• Autism spectrum disorder, psychosis, schizophrenia, addiction, substance abuse, bipolar, hoarding, or Tourette disorder
• Hearing conditions: tinnitus, ear inflammation, hearing sensitivity, hearing loss, requires hearing aids
• Colour blindness
• Severe learning disabilities