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Priming CBT With rTMS for OCD
Sponsor: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Summary
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), incorporating exposure/response prevention (ERP) and cognitive therapy, is considered the gold-standard first-line treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Because CBT is a psychological treatment that aims to change patterns of thinking and behaving, it may be that improvement in cognitive functioning before treatment starts could lead CBT to be even more effective. One area of research that has shown potential benefit for OCD sufferers is rTMS. rTMS is a non-invasive procedure that uses pulses of energy to stimulate regions of the brain. Brief treatment with rTMS has shown to improve attention, memory, and other aspects of cognitive functioning that may facilitate learning in CBT. The proposed study aims to provide a pilot test of the clinical effectiveness of adding brief rTMS prior to completing CBT for OCD. If rTMS can demonstrate enhancement of cognitive functioning, which in turn, can improve treatment response to CBT, then the findings could easily be translated into routine clinical care.
Official title: Priming Cognitive Flexibility With rTMS to Enhance CBT for OCD: A Pilot Study
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - 65 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
10
Start Date
2025-02-05
Completion Date
2026-06
Last Updated
2026-03-04
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
rTMS
rTMS is a non-invasive procedure that uses electromagnetic field pulses to stimulate regions of the brain. rTMS can induce excitatory and inhibitory neural activity in the neural circuits of the motor cortex.
CBT
CBT for OCD is a structured, short-term, present-oriented therapy with an emphasis on problem-solving and the modification of dysfunctional thinking and behaviour. CBT will be conducted in a group setting according to a session-by-session treatment manual that incorporates Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) in the early phases of treatment and then increases emphasis on cognitive approaches for obsessions and compulsions with step-by-step strategies.
Locations (1)
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Toronto, Ontario, Canada