This study investigates whether caloric vestibular stimulation can modulate a measure of insight in obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders.
Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRD), including obsessive compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder, are chronic and disabling conditions characterized by recurrent intrusive thoughts and associated compulsive behaviors that affect millions of individuals in the US each year. Individuals affected by OCRD differ in insight, or the degree to which they understand their intrusive thoughts to reflect illness. Impairments in insight limit individuals' motivation to engage in care and predict worse outcome in those who access treatment. This study seeks to explore whether unilateral stimulation of the vestibular system, which activates cortical areas hypothesized to underlie clinical insight, may beneficially modulate insight in individuals with OCRD.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
16
Cold water creates a convection current in the semicircular canal of the vestibular apparatus, leading to brief (\<3 min) and typically well tolerated sense of rotational movement. Similar stimulation is routinely used in standard vestibular diagnostic testing.
Stanford University
Stanford, California, United States
RECRUITINGchange in clinical insight as measured by the Brown Assessment of Beliefs (BABS).
Changes in clinical insight will be rated using the BABS, a gold-standard measure for assessing multiple dimensions of clinical insight across psychiatric disorders. The BABS is a 24 point scale for which scores ≥13 suggest poor or absent insight.
Time frame: 1 hour
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