Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 12, 2026
Protocol for Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Symptom Provocation to Treat Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
Published on: November 25, 2025
Transcranial direct current stimulation in obsessive-compulsive disorder: emerging clinical evidence and
Natasha M Senço1, Yu Huang, Giordano D'Urso
1Department and Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil.
Background:
Neuromodulation techniques for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) treatment have expanded with greater understanding of the brain circuits involved. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) might be a potential new treatment for OCD, although the optimal montage is unclear.
Objective:
To perform a systematic review on meta-analyses of repetitive transcranianal magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS) trials for OCD, aiming to identify brain stimulation targets for future tDCS trials and to support the empirical evidence with computer head modeling analysis.
Methods:
Systematic reviews of rTMS and DBS trials on OCD in Pubmed/MEDLINE were searched. For the tDCS computational analysis, we employed head models with the goal of optimally targeting current delivery to structures of interest.
Results:
Only three references matched our eligibility criteria. We simulated four different electrodes montages and analyzed current direction and intensity.
Conclusion:
Although DBS, rTMS and tDCS are not directly comparable and our theoretical model, based on DBS and rTMS targets, needs empirical validation, we found that the tDCS montage with the cathode over the pre-supplementary motor area and extra-cephalic anode seems to activate most of the areas related to OCD.
