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Priming CBT With rTMS for OCD

NCT06840951 · Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · Phase: PHASE1 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 10

Last updated 2026-03-04

No results posted yet for this study

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.

Conditions

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Interventions

DEVICE

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.

BEHAVIORAL

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.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Neil A. Rector, Ph.D. · Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

  • Peter Giacobbe, M.D. · Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Study Design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2025-02-05
Primary Completion
2026-06-30
Completion
2026-06-30

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06840951 on ClinicalTrials.gov