More than 80% of people with OCD never receive ERP, the gold-standard psychotherapy for OCD treatment. Digital, smart-phone based interventions offer a promising solution to address this treatment gap. However,… Read more »
Bridging Genetic Risk to Brain Mechanisms: A Region-Specific, Reverse-Translational Approach to OCD Pathophysiology
OCD research points to problems within a network of brain regions involved in decision-making, habits, and behavioral control. Genes help control how these brain regions develop and function, but most… Read more »
Augmentation of Exposure and Response Prevention with Frontopolar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Although exposure and response prevention (ERP) is a first-line evidence-based therapy for OCD, some patients unfortunately do not respond to it. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive technique… Read more »
A web-based single session intervention to reduce caregiver distress and accommodation in socioeconomically diverse caregivers of OCD patients: Project EMPOWER-OCD
Although effective treatments for OCD exist, more than half of people with OCD never receive the care they need, especially if they have financial challenges. Caregivers, who play a critical… Read more »
Nothing to fear: Developing and piloting treatment and training procedures for non-fear-based presentations of obsessive-compulsive disorder
Exposure and response prevention (ERP) mainly focuses on reducing fear, which is a good fit for patients who do compulsions in response to anxiety or to avoid feared outcomes. However,… Read more »
Electrophysiological biomarker characterization in sensing-enabled deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder
Surgery options such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery can provide relief for patients with severe, treatment-resistant OCD. Cutting edge research has led to the development of new devices that… Read more »
Deep TMS for obsessive-compulsive disorder: An fMRI study
Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS), a non-invasive and generally well-tolerated brain stimulation method, was recently granted FDA clearance for the treatment of OCD after pilot studies, real-world data, and a… Read more »
Personalized neuromodulation for a novel OCD biomarker and treatment
Although multiple treatments for OCD exist, slow symptom decrease, high remission, and significant side effects for some OCD patients limit their efficacy. More research into the precise neural mechanisms and… Read more »
Transcranial magnetic stimulation effects on urge suppression in obsessive-compulsive disorder using individualized targeting of the postcentral gyrus: A proof-of-concept investigation
OCD is usually associated with fear-based obsessions leading to compulsions, however, many individuals with OCD report uncomfortable urge sensations that drive their compulsions (e.g. overwhelming and uncomfortable feeling of contamination… Read more »
Controlled evaluation of positive family interaction therapy (P-FIT) for children and adolescents with OCD
Dr. Piacentini and his team’s prior research identified poor family cohesion, high conflict, and high blame as significant obstacles to youths with OCD responding to exposure-based CBT. Notably, 92% of… Read more »