NCT06717165

Efficacy and Mechanism of Augmentation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation(tACS) for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Clinical Trial to Study the Efficacy and Mechanisms of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) Concurrent With Exposure-based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 62 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Shanghai Mental Health Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and clinical outcome of the Exposure-based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) concurrent with Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) using individualized stimulation frequency in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, and explores the potential neural mechanisms of treatment effect by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG).

Detailed description

The current study aims to evaluate feasibility and clinical outcome of exposure-based CBT (ERP) combined with tACS over the prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in treatment of OCD patients. 62 OCD patients will be randomized into two groups (ERP+active tACS, ERP+sham tACS stimulation). All patients will be received 10 sessions of individual ERP in a two-month period, including 8 sessions of concurrent tACS with ERP (tACS+ERP). Based on the EEG parameters, individualized modeling was conducted to determine specific stimulation parameter schemes (stimulation frequency). The treatment program consists of a total of 10 sessions, with the first and last sessions being psychological therapy only. The middle eight sessions will involve concurrent transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and exposure and response prevention (ERP). The timing of assessments is designed to capture changes in symptom severity during the intervals between consecutive combined treatment sessions. Three independent evaluators will assess the severity of patients' obsessive-compulsive symptoms using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) at four time points: Baseline assessment (prior to the start of treatment); After the first combined session (Session 2) and before the second combined session (Session 3); After the fourth combined session (Session 5) and before the fifth combined session(Session 6); After the eighth combined session (Session 9) and before the final treatment session (Session 10). Patients will also undergo electroencephalography (EEG) assessments at each evaluation time point. The current study aims to explore whether the administration of individualized stimulation frequency tACS in conjunction with ERP can enhance the efficacy of ERP, providing early evidence for revealing the potential neural mechanisms underlying this treatment. Additionally, participants will undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at treatment baseline and after the completion of the full course of treatment.

Conditions

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
COMBINATION_PRODUCT	ERP combined with high-definition active tACS	The active tACS +ERP referred to a period of tACS applied in the first 20 minutes of the ERP treatment (the tACS device was activated when ERP began and deactivated automatically while ERP continued). The total treatment phase lasted eight weeks and included ten sessions with experienced psychotherapists following a specific manual for the tACS+ERP treatment. Based on the EEG parameters, individualized modeling was conducted to determine specific stimulation parameter schemes (stimulation frequency). Anode electrode will be localized in front of the mPFC on the Fz point according to the EEG international reference. Four cathode electrodes will be placed around (i.e. AFz, Fcz, F1, F2).
COMBINATION_PRODUCT	ERP combined with sham tACS	Patients will get the same CBT setting as the active tACS group and they were applied the sham tACS cocurrently with ERP. The sham tACS device is the same as the active comparator's except that the sham tACS will only deliver a current stimulation for the first and last 15 seconds in order to produce somatic sensation in patients similar to that induced by the active tACS.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-04-15
• Primary completion: 2027-10-30
• Completion: 2027-12-31
• First posted: 2024-12-04
• Last updated: 2025-08-01

Locations

1 site across 1 country: China