"Fake it till You Make it"! Contaminating Rubber Hands ("Multisensory Stimulation Therapy") to Treat...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Body Image Research

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) causes significant global suffering.
• Exposure and response prevention (ERP), a common OCD therapy, is often poorly tolerated due to patient anxiety.
• A significant percentage of patients refuse ERP initiation because of anxiety associated with exposure procedures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the therapeutic potential of a novel, low-cost multisensory stimulation therapy for OCD.
• To investigate if the rubber hand illusion (RHI) can be used to reduce contamination-related distress in OCD patients.
• To assess the malleability of body image in individuals with OCD.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-nine OCD patients participated in a study involving tactile stimulation of their real hand alongside a visible rubber hand.
• Participants were divided into two groups: synchronous stroking (inducing RHI) and asynchronous stroking (control).
• After tactile stimulation, the rubber hand was contaminated, simulating exposure therapy, and contamination sensations were assessed.

Main Results:

• The RHI facilitated sensory assimilation of contamination sensations into the body image.
• Patients in the synchronous group reported increased contamination sensations after 5 minutes of rubber hand contamination.
• Both synchronous and asynchronous stroking induced equally vivid illusions, explaining initial contamination reaction magnitudes.

Conclusions:

• This study is the first to suggest heightened body image malleability in OCD patients.
• Multisensory stimulation therapy via RHI shows promise as a tolerable treatment for OCD.
• This technique is suitable for resource-limited and emergency settings, offering an alternative to high-tech solutions.