Recruiting

tDCSTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation and Extinction in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Sponsor:

Yale University

Code:

NCT06834217

Conditions

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Active transcranial direct current stimulation

Sham transcranial direct current stimulation

Study Details

Brief summary:

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with substantial impairments in quality of life and is among the most disabling psychiatric disorders. Exposure therapy is among the first-line of treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) . Extinction learning is thought to be a core mechanism of therapeutic exposure. Fear and safety signal learning are traditionally associated with activity and connectivity within the canonical corticolimbic "fear circuit", which includes the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and hippocampus. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulation technology that can augment brain plasticity, learning, and memory. The proposed study will test if obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with inhibitory safety learning deficits and if transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) normalizes functional connectivity and safety signal processing to recover extinction deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Conditions

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Study ID

NCT06834217

Start date

Sep 12, 2025

Status verified date

Jul, 2026

Completion date

Aug 1, 2029

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Apr 1, 2029

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

All Participant Inclusion Criteria would include:

1. 18 years of age or older
2. speak English fluently, and
3. able to provide written and verbal informed consent.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) Inclusion Criteria would include:

1. meet criteria for OCD as determined by structured clinical interview
2. exhibit significant current symptoms of OCD
3. report duration of OCD symptoms of at least 1-year
4. OCD symptoms are primary or co-primary relative to other psychiatric diagnoses
5. stable psychiatric treatment (≥8-weeks) or no active treatment.
6. exhibit significant current symptoms of OCD as determined by the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS) (≥18).

Exclusion Criteria:

All Participant Exclusion Criteria would include:

1. active severe substance use disorder(s)
2. acute suicidality
3. history of bipolar or psychotic disorder(s)
4. significant developmental disabilities
5. loss of consciousness > 10 minutes
6. history of traumatic brain injury
7. major neurological disease
8. a positive pregnancy test
9. other brain stimulation or magnetic resonance imaging contraindications
10. new psychological treatment within the past 8 weeks
11. daily anxiolytic medication use (e.g., benzodiazepine).

Non-Clinical Control Exclusion Criteria would include:

1. meet current criteria for a psychiatric disorder as determined by structured clinical interview
2. active-psychotropic medications.

Study Design

Enrollment

180 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: Active transcranial direct current stimulation

Current will be ramped in/out for 30 seconds at the beginning and end of a 20-minute period and a constant current will be delivered for the 20-minutes between ramping.

sham comparator: Sham transcranial direct current stimulation

Current will be ramped in and out for 30 seconds followed by a 20-minute period during which no stimulation will be delivered.

Interventions

Active transcranial direct current stimulation

Multifocal transcranial direct current stimulation will be delivered. The anode will be placed over the frontal pole (Fpz, 10-20 electroencephalogram \[EEG\]) and will be surrounded by 5 return electrodes (cathodes). Current will be set at 1.5mA and will be ramped in and out for 30 seconds at the beginning and end of a 20-minute stimulation period.

Sham transcranial direct current stimulation

Primary outcome measure

Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response to create functional brain activation maps [ Time Frame: Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) will be measured across 3 daily scan sessions separated by ~24 hours each; data will be reported from all 3 sessions. ]
Skin conductance response (SCR) will be measured by collecting electrodermal activity data from the left hand [ Time Frame: Skin conductance will be measured across all 3 scan sessions, separated by ~24 hours each; data will be reported from all 3 sessions. ]
Threat expectancies will be measured by asking participants to rate the probability of receiving a shock using a 0-100 scale with zero equal to 0% chance and 100 equal to 100% chance; higher values are indicative of worse anxious reactivity [ Time Frame: Threat expectancies will be assessed at the beginning and end of each of the 3 scan session, separated by ~24-hours each; data will be reported from all 3 sessions. ]
Functional brain connectivity will be measured blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response [ Time Frame: Resting functional connectivity will be measured at baseline during first scan session and during transcranial direct current stimulation in the second scan session; scan sessions will be separated by ~24 hours; data from both sessions will be reported. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Thomas Adams, PhD

(203) 974-7523 thomas.adamsjr@yale.edu

Ava Reker, B.A.

ava.reker@yale.edu

Locations

Temple Medical Center

Recruiting

New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06511

Contacts

Ava Reker, B.A.

2037854575 ava.reker@yale.edu

Principal Investigator:

Thomas Adams, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

Yale University

Last update posted

Jul 23, 2026

Last verified

Jul, 2026

Keywords

Anxiety Disorders
Mental Disorders
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Yale University on 2026-07-23.