Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder: protocol for an open-label...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects many individuals, with a significant portion unresponsive to standard treatments like SSRIs and CBT.
• Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) is an emerging intervention for treatment-resistant OCD, necessitating research into its underlying mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility, tolerability, and safety of PAP in adults with treatment-resistant OCD.
• To gather preliminary clinical efficacy data for PAP in treatment-resistant OCD to guide future large-scale trials.
• To investigate neuroimaging and neurophysiological changes before and after PAP in treatment-resistant OCD patients.

Main Methods:

• A 12-week open-label trial involving ten adults with treatment-resistant OCD receiving a single 25 mg dose of psilocybin with psychological support.
• Feasibility, tolerability, and safety assessed throughout the trial.
• Clinical outcomes measured using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, with exploratory neuroimaging (dynamic connectivity), electroencephalogram, and TMS-EEG analyses.

Main Results:

• Preliminary data on the feasibility and efficacy of PAP in treatment-resistant OCD.
• Insights into the neurobiological mechanisms associated with PAP's effects on OCD symptoms.

Conclusions:

• Findings will inform the design of larger, randomized controlled trials for PAP in OCD.
• This research contributes to advancing the field of psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental health conditions.