About this Research Topic
Our goal is to examine how modern neuroscience can contribute to clinical practice in addressing the unmet needs of patients with OCD across the lifespan with regard to early diagnosis and treatment effectiveness. Obstacles to an early diagnosis may include the non-recognition of specific OCD symptoms, the non-recognition of environmental (e.g., trauma) and biological (e.g., genetics) risk factors for the development of the disorder, and the presence of comorbidities which have implications for the trajectory of OCD. In parallel, the reasons for evidence-based treatments not being effective in about a third of patients remain poorly understood. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and clomipramine) and cognitive behavioural therapy, involving exposure and response prevention, remain the mainstay of treatment for OCD, and although several clinical, environmental and biological predictors of response have been reported, delivering more personalized treatments is not a reality thus far. Treatments targeting novel neurotransmitters such as glutamate, and the use of non-invasive neuromodulation techniques such as TMS and tDCS have shown promise, but it is still not clear which patients benefit most from these treatments. Finally, evidence from neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies point to the involvement of distinct circuits that could be differently engaged in the disorder, depending on the clinical presentation, illness duration and exposure to treatment. A deeper understanding of the factors associated with the diagnostic delay and the response to diverse treatment modalities across the lifespan is a necessary step towards more effective clinical care.
We will welcome original studies and reviews conducted with samples of youth, adults or elderly patients with OCD covering the following topics:
• Environmental risk factors for OCD (trauma, perinatal events, etc.)
• Diagnostic and differential diagnosis challenges
• OCD and comorbidity across the lifespan: implications for diagnosis and treatment
• Environmental predictors of response to diverse treatment modalities
• Neuropsychological investigations, including cognitive markers of OCD and neurocognitive deficits as predictors of response to diverse treatment modalities
• Genetics: contribution to understanding the risk for developing OCD, comorbidity patterns and prediction of response to diverse treatment modalities
• Neuroimaging studies (structural, functional, spectroscopy): novel findings associated with risk for OCD/prediction of response to diverse treatment modalities
• Novel treatment approaches (for example, the implementation of outpatient intensive behavioural treatments as an alternative to conventional CBT, neuromodulation techniques, pharmacological trials with novel targe
Keywords: OCD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, trauma, diagnostic challenges, cognitive markers
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