Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Effective in Treating OCD, Study Suggests

People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who don ’t achieve adequate relief from medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy may benefit from deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS), astudy inAJP in Advancesuggests.During dTMS treatment, a cap containing coils delivers magnetic pulses to stimulate nerve cells in the brain. The study compared active dTMS treatment with sham (inactive) treatment in 87 people with OCD, with participants in the active treatment group experiencing greater improvement in symptoms at the end of treatment and at a follow-up assessment four weeks later.The study, led by Lior Carmi, Ph.D., of Tel Aviv University, included participants aged 22 to 68 years who were receiving outpatient treatment at 11 centers in the Canada, Israel, and the United States. All participants had a baseline score of 20 or higher on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), indicating that they were experiencing at least moderate symptoms of OCD despite treatment. Participants received 29 treatment sessions of active or sham treatment over a span of six weeks. The caps worn by those in the sham treatment group caused sensations in the participants ’ scalps but delivered no magnetic pulses.Before each treatment, the researchers guided the participants through a list of ideas that would provoke obsessive thoughts to activate the parts of the brain involved in OCD. A few minutes into treatment the researchers reminded participants to keep thinking those ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: ajp in advance deep transcranial magnetic stimulation dTMS headache Lior Carmi obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Source Type: research