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tDCS and Urge in BFRBs

NCT07019571 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 55

Last updated 2025-07-23

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The goal of this study is to find out if brain stimulation can help people stop skin-picking or nail-biting. The study wants to answer two main questions:

1. Does brain stimulation reduce the urge to pick skin or bite nails after those urges are triggered?
2. Does brain stimulation reduce how often people pick their skin or bite their nails?

Participants will:

* Talk about their skin-picking, nail-biting, and other mental health concerns
* Be placed in situations that make them want to pick or bite
* Rate how strong their urges are before and after brain stimulation Researchers will compare real brain stimulation to a placebo (a fake version that looks the same but has no effect) to see if the real stimulation works to reduce skin-picking and nail-biting urges and behaviors.

Conditions

  • Repetitive Compulsive Behavior

Interventions

DEVICE

Wireless Multichannel Transcranial Current Stimulator (tDCS)

tDCS will be delivered for 13 minutes (active) or only at the beginning and end of the 13 minute period (sham) using Neuroelectrics Instrument Controller software and a battery-driven Starstim 8-channel transcranial direct current stimulator with 1cm2 ceramic electrodes and SIGNAGEL conductive saline gel.

BEHAVIORAL

Cue exposure

Participants will undergo three, twenty-second trials of exposure to individualized cues at the top of the established urge hierarchy, previously determined to precede picking or biting behaviors before and after tDCS.

BEHAVIORAL

Boredom induction

Participants will be left in the testing room without access to a cellphone or reading materials for 2 different 6 minute periods.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Gopalkumar Rakesh

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Gopalkumar Rakesh, MD · University of Kentucky

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

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

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2025-07-08
Primary Completion
2026-05-31
Completion
2026-05-31
FDA Device
Yes

Countries

  • United States

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 NCT07019571 on ClinicalTrials.gov