Active clinical trials for "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder"

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has unparalleled efficacy in treating severe depression, and is also useful in treatment-refractory cases of schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). However, its use is limited by significant adverse effects on memory and cognition. In addition, ECT cannot be precisely targeted, since it relies on unpredictable pathways of electrical conduction through the brain. Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is currently under investigation as a targetable, cognition-sparing alternative to ECT. MST uses magnetic fields rather than electrical stimuli for seizure induction, dramatically reducing the passage of induced current through undesired brain regions. 10 years of experimental studies have established the safety of MST in animal and human subjects. This pilot study will investigate whether MST has similar efficacy to ECT, with fewer cognitive side effects, in patients with severe depression, schizophrenia, and OCD.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Deep TMS (DTMS) treatment in subjects with OCD. The device technology is based on the application of deep brain TMS by means of repetitive pulse trains at a predetermined frequency. The Brainsway DTMS study is a randomized, 10 week, double blind, multi-center trial comparing active DTMS treatment to sham treatment.

The purpose of this study is to examine how well intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) delivered over 5 days works in reducing Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms in children and adolescents. Treatment will consist of exposure and response prevention with an added focus on teaching parents to be exposure coaches.

Over a period of 3 weeks, association splitting is compared to cognitive remediation (CogPack training) as an add-on intervention to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Blind to treatment assignment, both groups are assessed before intervention and eight weeks as well as six months later with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI-R) and cognitive tests. OCD severity as measured by the Y-BOCS total score serves as the primary outcome parameter. It is assumed that association splitting will improve OCD severity to a greater extent than cognitive remediation.

This study will examine the efficacy of pregabalin (Lyrica) added to SRI treatment in OCD for individuals who have not responded or only partially responded to an adequate trial of SRI. Although SRIs have demonstrated efficacy in OCD in numerous placebo-controlled trials, response rates have been as low as 40%. Augmentation strategies would be beneficial to maximize treatment response in OCD. Pregabalin (Lyrica) is an anticonvulsant medication that appears to have a novel mechanism of action. It has been shown to enhance activity at gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) receptors as well as inhibit glutamate release. These two neurotransmitters systems have been implicated in the neurobiology of OCD. The study will consist of patients who have not attained full response to an SRI. The patients will be randomized in a double-blind fashion to augmentation with pregabalin (Lyrica) or placebo. The dose of study medication will be flexible, starting at 75 mg/day and increasing in 75 mg increments to a maximum of 600 mg/day, based on efficacy and any side effects. Patients' response to treatment will be measured by the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the Clinical Global Impression Scale(CGI).

This study will compare the effectiveness of family-based cognitive behavioral therapy to family-based relaxation therapy in treating young children with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

3 groups of subjects (healthy controls, OCD subjects and stimulant-dependent subjects) will receive pramipexole (1.5 mg, single dose), amisulpride (400 mg, single dose) or placebo in a cross-over, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Effects of compulsive behaviour will be assessed using fMRI and cognitive testing. Assess biomarkers including cardiovascular responses and plasma levels. All groups studied on 3 separate occasions following screening, with at least a week intervening between consecutive assessments. The procedures to be adopted for study assessment will be identical on each occasion.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common, chronic, and oftentimes disabling disorder. The only established treatments for OCD are a specific form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and the Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor medications (SRIs). Few patients with OCD experience complete symptom resolution with either modality and even after two consecutive SRI trials, as many as 30%-40% of patients fail to derive a satisfactory response. Pharmacological options for these SRI-resistant cases include switching to a different antidepressant, increasing the dose of SRI, or augmentation with another agent. Previous studies showed that approximately 33-50% of OCD patients who have not had an adequate response to SRI medication had a positive response when an atypical antipsychotic medication was added. However, the problematic acute and long-term side effects of these medications are of concern and, at times, limit their use. Paliperidone has a number of advantages over these medications including fewer drug interactions and better tolerability. Thus, this study is designed to determine whether paliperidone augmentation of an existing medication is effective relative to taking a placebo and your existing medication.

The objective of this study was to obtain preliminary open-label data on the efficacy and tolerability of memantine, an anti-glutamatergic medication with a unique pharmacodynamic profile, in individuals with OCD and individuals with GAD. Because glutamatergic hyperactivity in frontal and frontal-subcortical circuits may play a role in the symptomatic expression of OCD, and possibly GAD, agents that reduce glutamatergic neurotransmission should provide unique anti-stress and anti-obsessional benefits. Memantine is a specific, uncompetitive antagonist at the NMDA receptor that blocks sustained activation of the NMDA receptor by high concentrations of glutamate under pathological conditions but rapidly leaves the NMDA channel upon transient physiological activation by low concentrations of glutamate.

The goal of the proposed study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Lamictal in neurotic excoriation. Twenty subjects with neurotic excoriation will receive 12 weeks of open-label treatment with Lamictal. The hypothesis to be tested is that Lamictal will be effective and well tolerated in patients with neurotic excoriation. The proposed study will provide needed data on the treatment of a disabling disorder that currently lacks a clearly effective treatment.